Three more Penn National trainers receive suspensions for injections

Three more trainers charged in an investigation involving a veterinarian at Penn National Race Course in Grantville, Penn., have been suspended 30 days by the Horseracing Integrity and Wagering Unit, according to rulings posted on the organization’s website.

The three trainers – David Geist, Paula Sinnefia, and Dimitrios Synnefias – were handed the suspensions days after three other Penn National trainers received 30-day suspensions for identical infractions. Geist and Synnefias were charged with multiple violations of training or racing a horse within stand-down periods following intra-articular injections of corticosteroids, while Synnefia was facing one charge.

The horses involved in the charges have all been disqualified from their races. The multiple violations were treated as one violation due to the circumstances of when the trainers were charged with the violations.

All told, HIWU and other racing regulators have identified 13 trainers who used the services of Dr. Allen Bonnell, a suspended veterinarian who has been charged with falsifying records of administrations of corticosteroids to hundreds of horses at Penn National over an 18-month period from 2023 to 2024.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.