Umarov drops effort to defend stay, focuses on appeal of suspension

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Otabek Umarov, the trainer suspended by Kentucky regulators for 10 years, has dropped his efforts to defend a stay of the penalty to focus on his appeal in front of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, his attorney said on Monday.

Umarov was granted a stay of the penalty by Franklin County Circuit Court Judge Phillip Shepherd on June 23, but Shepherd, in his ruling granting the stay, invited the commission to file additional motions contesting his decision. Shepherd was scheduled to hear the motions during a hearing Monday in Frankfort, Ky., but Justin Fowles, Umarov’s attorney, asked for the case to be dismissed on Friday.

“We’re going forward with the administrative hearing and have decided to forgo the stay,” Fowles said. “He’d rather focus his attention on getting past the hearing.”

Umarov has filed an appeal of the 10-year penalty with the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, but that hearing has not yet been scheduled. Fowles said he expects the hearing to be scheduled in the next several weeks.

Umarov was handed the 10-year penalty for refusing to allow a horse he trains to be sampled for out-of-competition testing in late April while stabled at Churchill Downs in Louisville. The penalty was the longest handed down by the commission in decades.

Umarov had initially sought a stay from the commission, but the commission voted unanimously to deny it. That led Umarov to civil court, where judges typically set a much higher bar in determining whether a stay should be denied.

Umarov, who was banned by Churchill Downs after refusing the efforts by regulators to pull samples from his horse, has sold his horses, Fowles said, and does not have immediate plans to return to training.

“He’s a man of limited means,” Fowles said. “He’s just small-time trainer, and he does not have unlimited resources.”