 |
| RICHARD DUTROW |
| |
While the punishment will begin more than 1½ years after the infraction, trainer Richard Dutrow will serve a 30-day suspension beginning November 15 for a 2008 clenbuterol positive at Churchill Downs.
The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission and the 2008 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1)-winning trainer reached a global settlement agreement through Franklin, Kentucky Circuit Court. The 30-day suspension the commission levied in July will be served this year and the purse money from the race in question will be forfeited.
Under the agreement, the commission will not pursue payment of legal expenses from the trainer.
In July, the commission cited the integrity of the sport in deciding to double the length of Dutrow’s suspension from 15 to 30 days. The suspension dates to a May 2, 2008, race at Churchill in which the Dutrow-trained Salute the Count tested positive for clenbuterol following a second-place finish in the Aegon Turf Sprint Stakes (G3).
In October, a Kentucky hearing officer recommended the violation be overturned but reversed that decision in April after the commission satisfied concerns about how the concentration of clenbuterol was measured relative to plasma or serum. The commission subsequently doubled the length of the suspension.
Clenbuterol is a bronchodilator designated as a Class 3 substance by the Association of Racing Commissioners International. Class 3 substances may or may not have a therapeutic use and they have less potential to impact performance than Class 2 substances.
.
