Penny Pearce, a trainer who has won nearly $2 million in purses over the past two years while winning at a 25 percent rate, has been suspended for more than five years after six horses she trained tested positive for clenbuterol in out-of-competition tests, according to a ruling from the Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission. Pearce was suspended a total of 1,950 days because of the six positive tests, which arose out of an unannounced barn search at Parx Racing, according to the ruling. The racing commission ruling noted that a search of Pearce’s tack room also turned up “hypodermic needles, syringes, and injectable substances.” It is a violation for trainers to possess hypodermic needles and syringes on the backstretch. Pearce’s legal counsel, Alan Pincus, said that he will appeal the ruling and seek a stay. Pincus declined to comment further. Clenbuterol is a highly regulated bronchial dilator that can have muscle-building properties when administered regularly to horses. Regulators have been cracking down on its use in Thoroughbred racing for more than a decade. Because many trainers have been allegedly experimenting with micro-doses of the drug, out-of-competition testing is considered one of the best ways to police its illegal use. Pearce also was fined $23,500. In its ruling, the Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission considered the amount of positives to be an “aggravating circumstance” and used the state’s multiple medication-violation penalty system to consider additional penalties for each horse that tested positive.  Pearce began training in 2012, with win rates ranging from 9 percent to 17 percent. In 2021, her win rate jumped from 8 percent to 23 percent, and she earned $1.05 million in purses, best in her career by $600,000. Though Aug. 28 of this year, she had won 23 races from 84 starts for a strike rate of 27 percent and purses earnings of $738,149.