Trainer Pineda suspended for fifth positive
California trainer Milton Pineda, already provisionally suspended by the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare United, has been cited for a fifth positive for a banned medication found in one of his recent runners at Los Alamitos, the regulatory body announced on its website on Wednesday.
A post-race test taken from Chollima following a win in an $8,000 claimer at Los Alamitos on June 23 detected a positive for diisopropylamine, which is considered a therapeutic substance “that could have diuretic effects and assist in preventing” bleeding, according to a ruling issued by the racing authority of the United Arab Emirates in 2021.
Pineda had four positives for diisopropylamine in tests taken from horses that raced at Santa Anita from June 2 to June 18.
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Reed Saldana, also a California-based trainer, had a positive for the same medication June 16 at Santa Anita. Saldana said in an interview last week that the positive was caused by administering an over-the-counter B-15 vitamin supplement with pangamic acid as an active ingredient. Diisopropylamine is “an active component of many formulations of pangamic acid,” according to a study published on the National Library of Medicine’s website.
Chollima was claimed on June 23, and has since finished second in a $12,500 claimer at Los Alamitos on July 4 for co-owner and trainer Lorenzo Campuzano.
Pineda, 38, began training in 2019 and was the leading trainer at the Los Alamitos Thoroughbred meeting last December. Pineda had a 30-horse stable when he was provisionally suspended and was in the midst of his best season.
This year, Pineda has won 15 races from runners who have earned a career-best $445,130. Pineda, who won a career-best 20 races in 2022, won the first stakes of his career with See Through It in the El Dorado Shooter Stakes for sprinters at Golden Gate Fields in February.
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