Eight Sharp-Trained Horses Disqualified at Fair Grounds

Eight horses trained by Joe Sharp have been disqualified and placed last at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots after testing positive for a prohibited substance, Equibase charts indicate. According to Sharp, the disqualifications were for the presence of levamisole, found in a deworming medication he began using for the first time in mid-November.

The disqualifications were first reported on social media by Equibase chartcaller Heath Belvoir.

In one Fair Grounds ruling published on the Association of Racing Commissioners International website regarding Tempt Fate, the winner of the fifth race at Fair Grounds Dec. 6, stewards fined Sharp $1,000 for that occurrence and declared the purse money redistributed. Their ruling stated they considered mitigating circumstances.

"Compounded products generally accepted for use in livestock worming programs are readily available over the counter at local tack and feed suppliers," they wrote. "Trainer Joe Sharp purchased and administered Prohibit, an over the counter worming product. As described on the product label it 'contains the prohibited medication Levamisole,' however the label does not mention its potential to produce metabolites of potent drugs in post-race urine and blood samples.

"Until recently Levamisole was considered a substance of essentially no regulatory interest. Recent studies verified that Levamisole administrations have the potential to produce central nervous system metabolites in post-race samples. The ARCI recently classified Levamisole Class (2) B penalty medication. This classification recognizes the innocent explanation of a worming administration which would not produce a post-race sample containing a CNS metabolite. The State Chemist did not report the presence of this metabolite."

Class 2 drugs have the potential to affect performance, according to ARCI.

Sharp said his large number of positive tests was the result of the usual waiting time for test-lab results, and a delay in the substance clearing his horses' systems in a state that has a zero-tolerance policy.

"As soon as we found out, we took it out of the barn on Dec. 12," he said. "A lot of these horses had been through the test barn, and then you stop use, and then I found out that stuff stays in their system."

The Fair Grounds disqualifications, for seven winners and a runner-up, affect races from late last year, from Dec. 1 to Dec. 28, including two stakes. Carl R. Moore Management's Midnight Fantasy was disqualified from the $100,000 Louisiana Champions Day Ladies Sprint Stakes Dec. 14, and Calumet Farm's Tracksmith was disqualified from victory in the Woodchopper Stakes Dec. 28. 

First- and second-place horses in most jurisdictions are the most commonly tested runners for prohibited drugs.

In January, from what he said was a result of the lingering nature of a deworming drug "we pulled blood privately, make sure (they tested) clear. We've done that as follow up to make sure.

"We knew nothing about it," Sharp said. "It was an honest mistake. My owners have been very patient, thank god, because this has just been a nightmare."

It is unclear whether Sharp-trained runners could face disqualifications in other states such as Kentucky. During the mid-November time period when he said he changed his deworming medications, he raced horses at Churchill Downs. He has also run horses at Oaklawn Park in recent weeks, though more than a month after he said he ceased use of the deworming medication he believes caused the positives.

Besides his affected owners, who lost race earnings, seven vacated victories from the disqualifications sent Adam Beschizza, Sharp's usual rider, tumbling in the jockey standings. Gabe Saez rode the other disqualified winner for the trainer.

As is customary in rulings of this nature, the positive-test disqualifications do not change betting payoffs, the way disqualifications for interference do.