Marquee Barbadian trainer Saffie Joseph Jr says he is appealing a US$500 fine and a 15-day suspension, imposed by the Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission, after his entrant Artie’s Princess tested positive for the pain reliever, gabapentin, following her victory in last September’s $400 600 Presque Isle Downs Masters Stakes.
The 34-year-old said he was willing to own up to a mistake if he had made one but contended he had “never heard of the medication” before last October, when he was informed of the positive test.
According to media reports, PHRC rules prohibit even the faintest trace of gabapentin and if the ruling stands, it will also result in the disqualification of Artie’s Princess.
“If I do wrong, I can accept responsibility,” Horse Racing Nation quoted Joseph as saying in an interview.
“I have no problem accepting responsibility when mistakes are made. It’s not the first positive I’ve had. I know when a positive is our mistake, and I know when it’s not our mistake. In this case it’s not our mistake.”
He added: “I had never heard of the medication until then. I’ve never used that medication on any horse in my life. I’ve never had a veterinarian use that medication on any horse in my life.”
According to Joseph, Artie’s Princess spent the night before the Masters Stakes in a detention barn with other horses entered for the race, and had also returned a negative test 24 hours before the event.
Following the positive post-race urine test, Joseph requested a test of a split sample at Texas A&M, Horse Racing Nation reported, the results returning positive for 0.19 nanograms of gabapentin.
Referencing a recent study in an Irish Veterinary Journal, Joseph said there had been a recommendation for a limit of five nanograms, after contamination positives were returned involving the medication.
“[It] recommended creating a threshold level to avoid contamination positives, because there had been a bunch of contamination positives with the same medication,” said Joseph.
“That’s why they were doing the study. Their level of recommendation was five nanograms.”
Artie’s Princess is owned by American Kenneth Ramsay and was previously trained by Wesley Ward before moving to Joseph’s barn two years ago.
In her last outing in January, the six-year-old mare finished sixth in the Pegasus World Cup Grade 3 Filly & Mare Turf Invitational at Gulfstream Park.
Joseph, a rising star in horse racing circles since arriving in the United States from Barbados almost 10 years ago, remained confident of a positive outcome to the matter.
“She was negative 24 hours before the race, but then she’s positive by urine after the race,” Joseph said.
“We asked for the blood report after the race because she was negative the day before. It’s very rare for them to do an out-of-competition test the day before. In this sense it’s actually a blessing.”
According to Joseph, the PHRC has not provided him with the post-race blood report he requested. (CMC)
