Two trainers, two jockeys fined for medication and whip violations

Trainers Carla Gaines and Adam Kitchingman have been fined $500 for recent medication violations and jockeys Eswan Flores and Mario Gutierrez received lesser financial penalties for whip violations, according to rulings published over the weekend by Santa Anita stewards.

Gaines trains Coalinga Road, who tested positive for the analgesic phenylbutazone after a win in the second race at Del Mar on Sept. 4. Bute, as it is frequently called, is a commonly used medication, but cannot be administered within 48 hours of a race following rule changes enacted by the California Horse Racing Board in the last year.

Coalinga Road won a maiden special weight race for California-breds as the 9-5 second choice.

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Kitchingman trains Adens Dream, who tested positive for methylprednisolone, an anti-inflammatory that is not permitted to appear in post-race tests. Adens Dream finished fifth in the sixth race at Del Mar on Aug. 21.

Gutierrez was fined $200 for using his whip more than six times on Going to Vegas, the second-place finisher in the Grade 3 Autumn Miss Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at a mile on turf Saturday. Going to Vegas, a 16-1 outsider, contended for the lead in the stretch and was beaten a neck by 7-10 Warren’s Showtime.

Under rules enacted by the racing board on Oct. 1, jockeys in California are restricted to no more than six strikes with a whip in a race and must do so in an under-handed motion. Gutierrez was cited for his second offense in the last 60 days on Going to Vegas.

Flores was fined $100 for the same infraction on Vegas Moon, who finished seventh of nine in a $50,000 claimer for maidens in the eighth race on Oct. 12.

*** Santa Anita concludes its five-week autumn meeting with a three-day racing weekend from Friday through Sunday. Del Mar opens its autumn meeting on Oct. 31.

The final weekend of the Santa Anita meeting is highlighted by Saturday’s Grade 3 Sen. Ken Maddy Stakes for fillies and mares at 5 1/2 furlongs on turf, and Sunday’s Grade 2 Goldikova Stakes for fillies and mares at a mile on turf.

Maxim Rate and Lady Prancealot, graded stakes winners who were second and third in the Grade 1 Rodeo Drive Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 1/4 miles on turf on Sept. 26, are among the 18 nominees to the $200,000 Goldikova.