Trainers Tom Morley, Edmund Davis suspended for phenylbutazone overages
Trainers Tom Morley and Edmund Davis were each suspended and fined by the New York State Gaming Commission for the presence of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory phenylbutazone in the post-race test of horses who competed at Saratoga this summer.
Morley was suspended 10 days and fined $1,000 for the presence of phenylbutazone in the post-race sample of Built to Last, who won the third race at Saratoga on Aug. 24.
Morley, who waived his right of appeal, will serve the days from Oct. 13-22.
Built to Last, who won a maiden $40,000 claiming race that day for owner Gabe Grossberg, was disqualified from first and ordered unplaced in the order of finish. The horse had earned his connections $27,500, which had to be forfeited.
Kingstown, who finished second for trainer Mark Hennig, was declared the official winner of that Aug. 24 race.
Morley declined to comment on the overage, opting instead to put out a statement on his racing stable’s Facebook page that read:
“Regrettably, during the Saratoga meet of 2022, one of my horses, Built to Last, returned an overage for the permissible medication Phenylbutazone. In what was quite clearly human error, this remains a deeply upsetting occurrence. As such, I will be serving a 10-day suspension from Oct. 13-22 and will be complying entirely with the NYSGC ruling as well as reviewing our operating systems to ensure that this never happens again.”
Morley did say that assistant Axelle Solares will take over the stable during his suspension.
This is Morley’s first medication violation in New York. In 2017, he served a 20-day suspension and was fined $5,000 for selling a horse he had claimed back to its previous owner within 30 days.
Davis was suspended 15 days and fined $1,500 for the finding of phenylbutazone in the post-race sample of Cap’t Remington, who finished second in the third race at Saratoga on Aug. 5. Cap’t Remington was ordered unplaced in the order of finish and Davis, who was also the owner of Cap’t Remington, had to forfeit the $8,500 purse for finishing second.
Davis received a harsher penalty than Morley because he had a previous medication violation in June 2021, according to the stewards.
Davis, who waived his right of appeal, will serve his days from Oct. 16-30.
Davis said the positive was “a complete accident” but did not provide details.
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