Milton Pineda, a trainer based in Southern California, has been issued a ban of 15 years for multiple positives of a banned vasodilator and violations of his provisional suspension while his case was being adjudicated, according to a decision by an arbitrator hearing his case. The 15-year ban is the largest punishment handed out so far under the Anti-Doping and Medication Program that is enforced by the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit, which took over drug enforcement in most U.S. racing jurisdictions in May 2023. Under the ruling from arbitrator Nancy Holtz, Pineda received seven separate two-year bans for eight positive tests for diisopropylamine, a drug that widens blood vessels. He also was banned an additional year for “brazen actions” that violated his provisional suspension, according to the arbitrator’s report. The eight positive tests occurred in seven horses that ran at Santa Anita or Los Alamitos Race Course from June 2 to July 4 of last year. Under HIWU’s rules, each positive test carries the potential of a two-year ban. HIWU treated two positive tests in a single horse as one violation. All of the horses were disqualified from their races. Pineda also was fined $195,000. Pineda had initially accepted a 12-year ban last year, but he withdrew his agreement to seek a ruling from the arbitrator. During a hearing that took place Feb. 27, Pineda, who was represented by Darrell Vienna and Carlo Fisco, argued that he had not intentionally administered diisopropylamine to his horses and claimed that the positives were the result of contamination in a variety of supplements he had administered to his horses. Holtz disregarded the validity of those claims in her ruling, stating that Pineda had not provided any evidence of contamination, including testing of the supplements to prove that diisopropylamine was present in the substances. Holtz also rejected an argument that diisopropylamine should not be considered a banned substance because studies have not established that it is performance-enhancing. “Putting aside whether or not [diisopropylamine] has a performance-enhancing effect, it appears clear, based on all of the evidence and reasonable inferences drawn therefrom, that many in the horse racing industry are of the belief that [diisopropylamine] does have a beneficial effect on their horses,” Holtz wrote. “This belief, albeit erroneous, would easily provide a motive for someone to want to administer it, in a covert manner.” Pineda was issued a provisional suspension on July 6. Following the suspension, investigators for HIWU observed Pineda on five separate occasions in September and October observing his horses working while in a “secluded area” at Los Alamitos and meeting with a former groom in his stable who had been hired by the trainer who received Pineda’s horses after he was suspended. During the hearing, Pineda denied offering instructions to the groom during those meetings. But Holtz said in her ruling that there was evidence that Pineda “flagrantly disregarded” the terms of his provisional suspension, leading to the imposition of the additional one-year penalty. “By his brazen actions in engaging in paper training . . . Mr. Pineda appears to consider the suspension imposed on him as little more than a speed bump impeding his continued work as a trainer,” Holtz wrote. Pineda began training in 2019 and amassed a career record of 49 wins from 333 starts, with total purse earning of just more than $1 million.