Vazquez appeals levamisole suspension, gets stay

Trainer Juan Vazquez filed an appeal and has received a stay from the Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission of 30 days’ worth of suspensions handed him by that commission for two positives in 2021 involving the deworming medication levamisole.

The penalty – two consecutive 15-day suspensions – was scheduled to start Monday and run through March 22. The suspension in Pennsylvania would have been reciprocated in most, if not all, other racing jurisdictions. In addition to being stabled at Parx in Bensalem, Pa., Vazquez has approximately 19 horses stabled at Belmont Park. On Saturday, Vazquez entered three horses for next Thursday’s eight-race card at Aqueduct. Vazquez entered Saturday’s card tied for third in Aqueduct’s winter meet standings with 12 wins from 39 starters. He had one starter in Saturday’s ninth race.

At Parx, where Vazquez has won two races from 22 starters at the meet, entries aren’t taken again until Tuesday.

Hollywood Talent tested positive for levamisole following his victory at odds of 108-1 in the Grade 3 Turf Monster on Sept. 25. Louie’s Wish tested positive for levamisole following his victory at odds of 9-1 in a $10,000 claiming race on Aug. 30.

Both horses were disqualified from their victories and ordered unplaced in the order of finish. Purse money won in that race, $168,000 by Hollywood Talent and $19,494 by Louie’s Wish, had to be forfeited by their owners. Beer Can Man, who finished second, is now the recognized winner of the Turf Monster.

Early in 2017, the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium issued an advisory recommending that horsemen avoid using levamisole as a deworming product and instead use other widely available alternatives. The advisory noted that, regardless of the intent of administration, levamisole metabolizes into two Class 1 substances, aminorex and pemoline, that are “potent stimulants.”

In 2019, trainer Joe Sharp had 13 horses test positive for levamisole between Churchill Downs and Fair Grounds. Five of those positives occurred in Kentucky, where Sharp was issued a 30-day suspension and $2,500 fine. However, last month, those penalties were vacated by the KHRC because the drug had been disqualified by the ARCI. In Louisiana, Sharp paid a $1,000 fine but served no days for eight levamisole positives.

Vazquez has a long history of suspensions for violations. In a 2017 ruling by the Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission, he was given a 60-day suspension for medication violations and in the ruling it noted that Vazquez had eight positives in a 23-month period.

Despite Vazquez’s checkered past, NYRA has opted to accept his entries until at least his appeal is heard.

“To refuse entries or prohibit Mr. Vazquez from accessing the property, for example, are actions that NYRA could take against a licensed trainer only after he is provided satisfactory due process," NYRA spokesman Pat McKenna wrote in an e-mail. "That process is deliberative and not immediate, which is why Juan Vazquez is permitted to participate at NYRA while he appeals his suspension in Pennsylvania."

The New York Racing Association is currently attempting to ban Bob Baffert from participating at its tracks for a series of positives accrued at out of state tracks, including Medina Spirit’s overage of betamethasone in last year’s Kentucky Derby.

The NYRA is scheduled in March to hold an administrative hearing regarding trainer Marcus Vitali’s ability to participate in racing at NYRA tracks.

– additional reporting by Matt Hegarty