Trainer Lorenzo Ruiz suspended for diisopropylamine positives

Lorenzo Ruiz, a trainer based in Southern California, has been suspended 4 1/2 years by the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit for three positives for the banned substance diisopropylamine, a vasodilator, according to HIWU’s website.

Ruiz was suspended 18 months and fined $12,500 for each of the positives. All three positives came up in horses that started at Los Alamitos this summer.

According to HIWU, Ruiz, who has a lifetime record of 150 wins from 800 starts over a 14-year career, admitted to the rule violations. The recommended penalty for a single violation of the banned-substances rule is a two-year suspension.

The Ruiz horses were part of a rash of positives for diisopropylamine during the summer Los Alamitos meet. As a vasodilator, the substance acts as a diuretic, the same effect as Lasix, the regulated diuretic that is legal to administer on race day in non-stakes races and races that are not restricted to 2-year-olds.

Milton Pineda, also based at Los Alamitos, had seven horses test positive for diisopropylamine at Los Alamitos, including one horse who tested positive for the substance twice. Reed Saldana had one horse test positive for the substance.

In an earlier interview, Saldana said that the positive came from a supplement he administered containing pangamic acid.

The HIWU rules took effect May 22. In the lead-up to the implementation of the rules, HIWU officials warned trainers to review the supplements that they were giving to their horses and cautioned that the supplements are unregulated.

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