A racetrack owner in the U.S. rescheduled a stakes race that was set to be competed last Saturday as he was skeptical of the horses that qualified for the Final.
In October, Los Alamitos Racecourse ran trials for its Grade 1 Los Alamitos Super Derby. Track owner Ed Allred was displeased with the connections of the horses that qualified for the final and ordered that all horses that qualified for the final plus another 20 that had the next fastest qualifying times in the trials undergo hair sample analysis for the bronchodilator Clenbuterol.
“All 10 (Super Derby qualifiers) had past association with connections that had previous clenbuterol violations,” Allred told PaulickReport.com. “It was obviously a farce, as far as I’m concerned.”
Eight of the ten finalists were trained by Eloy G. Navarro, and according to Paulick Report most of his starters had connections to a trainer with four clenbuterol violations last Fall. Allred ejected the trainer, Jose De La Torre, from the track in December 2013.
On the heels of this announcement, Los Alamitos announced new requirements for finalists competing in this year’s Grade 1 $600,000 Champion of Champions to be held on Saturday, December 13.
All horses eligible to run in the Champion of Champions must be on the grounds at Los Alamitos by Saturday, November 22. This date is three weeks prior to the running of the Champion of Champions. In addition, all participants will be hair tested to determine if Clenbuterol has been administered within the last six months.
Clenbuterol is one medication that had changes come into effect for those racing in New Jersey starting today, using the RCI Controlled Therapeutic Medication Schedule, Version 2.1.
The presence of Clenbuterol will not be allowed in plasma or serum and the threshold level for urine is 140pg/ml.
The recommended withdrawal time for Clenbuterol will increase to 14 days. The previous recommended withdrawal time was four days (96 hours).