Another alarming HISA penalty for Thoroughbred trainer

Editor’s Note: The U.S. Trotting Association (USTA) continues to observe with alarm as Thoroughbred trainers are being penalized by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) for obvious environmental contamination positives at levels pharmacologically insignificant to the health or performance of the horse, which has incurred the positive tests. Worse still is HISA’s “guilty until proven innocent” approach in such cases, effectively denying due process to those accused.

In August, the USTA wrote to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), urging that body to accept a Petition for Rulemaking submitted by the National Horsemen’s Benevolent & Protective Association that would establish “no-effect thresholds” as part of the HISA rules. No-effect thresholds are laboratory testing detection levels below which no owner or trainer will be punished for innocent and pharmacologically irrelevant concentrations of foreign substances that have no effect on a horse. Thus far, the FTC has not taken action, and the vast majority of drugs tested for by HISA do not have no-effect thresholds.

Without no-effect thresholds, many innocent horsemen will continue to be incorrectly maligned, accused of wrongdoing, and punished. As described in a story that appeared this week in the Thoroughbred Daily News, trainer Jorge Duarte, Jr. is experiencing just that after one of his trainees, Happy Cat, tested positive in May for trace amounts of methamphetamine, which Duarte strenuously denies ever having taken or administered. Duarte has been suspended despite cooperating with officials and having himself and his employees tested. He has yet to have had a hearing. “They’re not trying to help you…,” Duarte is quoted as saying. ”They’re just trying to bury you.”

The USTA urges all horsemen to read about Jorge Duarte, Jr. and support no-effect thresholds at state and national levels.

Columbus, OH – The Thoroughbred Daily News story, “Proclaiming His Innocence, Trainer Jorge Duarte, Jr. Is Finding Out How Tough It Is To Fight HIWU,” describes another example of how HISA is penalizing a Thoroughbred trainer for trace amounts of the prohibited drug methamphetamine.

In the story, Bill Finley writes, “On June 26, trainer Jorge Duarte, Jr was informed that a horse he trained named Happy Cat (Kitten’s Joy) had tested positive for methamphetamine following a May 22nd race at Delaware Park. Duarte was indeed concerned, but he insisted he had done nothing wrong, that cooler heads would prevail and that he would not be penalized.

Three-and-a-half months later, he has already started serving what could be a lengthy suspension. The problem is that when there is a drug positive, Duarte says the position of the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) is that you are guilty until you can prove you are innocent.”

Finley explains that “Duarte is the private trainer for Richard Santulli’s Colts Neck Stable, which is based at a private training center. That means that when he runs a horse, they will usually spend time in the receiving barn at the track. Reporting for the TDN, Dan Ross found these locations around the country can be filthy and it’s common for backstretch workers to urinate in them. They are an environment conducive to yielding positives that are the result of environmental contamination.”

Santulli described his frustration with HISA’s process.

“I’m upset because they have written rules that don’t give anybody a chance,” Santulli told Finley. “They’re saying we gave meth to the horse, which is completely absurd. And they’re saying that with the ways the rules are written, if there is any meth in the horse, that horse will test positive.”

To read the complete story on Thoroughbred Daily News, click here.

From the USTA