Ward serving suspension for naproxen, metformin positives

Trainer Wesley Ward is currently serving a 15-day suspension handed down by the stewards in New Jersey after a horse he trained tested positive for naproxen, a regulated anti-inflammatory drug, after winning a race at Monmouth Park last summer, according to a ruling and people involved in the case.

The horse, Insanity It Seems, also tested positive for metformin, a drug used to treat diabetes in humans. However, according to one of Ward’s lawyers in the case, the stewards took into account that the finding for metformin was at an “extremely trace amount,” and the detection of the substance was not used in determining a penalty.

“We’re appreciative of the fact that the stewards and the commission took our scientific evidence into account,” said Drew Mollica, who represented Ward in a Feb. 23 hearing before the board of stewards with co-counsel Darrell Vienna. “There’s no question there was a trace amount of metformin. But the 15-day penalty is only reflective of the naproxen.”

Insanity It Seems tested positive for the two substances after winning a $55,000 maiden special weight at Monmouth Park on July 15, 2022. The horse was also disqualified. Insanity It Seems, a first-time starter, was the odds-on favorite in the race.

Eighteen months ago, Ward served a 15-day suspension for a metformin positive in Kentucky. In that case, Ward said that he did not administer the substance to the horse and speculated that the positive was the result of accidental contamination. Metformin is regularly prescribed to people with diabetes, but its use has also been studied in horses as a treatment for overweight mares.

Ward said on Wednesday that he accepted the penalty without considering an appeal. The suspension began on June 23 and will run through July 7.

“It’s unfortunate, but I don’t need a bunch of lawyer bills appealing it,” Ward said. “Rules are rules, and you have to abide by them.”

As for the second finding of metformin in a horse he trained, Ward said that Insanity It Seems was not administered the substance. He noted that the horse was shipped in to Monmouth on the day of the race and again speculated that the positive was the result of accidental contamination, given the small amount found in the post-race sample.

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