A trainer has received a one-year suspension and $1,000 fine as a result of a horse testing positive for
aminorex.
On May 23, 2009, Up And At Em wired the field of a $2,000 claiming event at Ohio's Raceway Park for Michigan-based trainer Robert Searle. A post-race urine sample was found to contain aminorex, a Class 1 substance according to the Association of Racing Commissioners International.
Two years ago, Canada's harness racing industry was rocked with a spate of aminorex positives that were eventually dismissed when the CPMA warned that levamisole, a drug widely used to control internal parasites in livestock, could cause aminorex positives in racehorses.
"Given the amount of attention this has received, there is no excuse for someone not to know that 1) aminorex is easy to detect; and 2) if you use levamisole (for whatever purpose) you may wind up with an aminorex positive," said Dr. Scot Waterman, executive director of the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium.