Additional Horses DQ'd After Levamisole Positives

Two additional horses have tested positive for levamisole and have been disqualified from January victories at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, Daily Racing Form reported Feb. 15.

Silver Dust was disqualified from his Jan. 18 Louisiana Stakes (G3) victory, and Blackberry Wine was disqualified from an allowance optional claiming victory on the same day. Both horses ran again Saturday at Fair Grounds. Silver Dust won the Mineshaft Stakes (G3), and Blackberry Wine finished seventh in the first division of the Risen Star Stakes Presented by Lamarque Ford (G2) after pressing the pace.

Bret Calhoun and Joe Sharp, who train Silver Dust and Blackberry Wine, respectively, were notified by stewards Friday of the positive test, according to DRF, and agreed to pay a $1,000 fine to prevent their horses from being scratched from Saturday's races. Both horses were placed last in their January races.

Blackberry Wine is the ninth horse trained by Sharp to test positive for levamisole during the Fair Grounds meet. Seven winners and one runner-up from Dec. 1-28 were disqualified.

KING: Eight Sharp-Trained Horses Disqualified at Fair Grounds

Levamisole, which can be found in over-the-counter deworming medications for livestock, is classified by the Association of Racing Commissioners International as a Class (2) B penalty medication. Class 2 drugs have the potential to affect performance, according to ARCI.

Sharp told BloodHorse this month that levamisole was found in a deworming medication he began using for the first time in mid-November. He 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."

In January, from what he said was a result of the lingering nature of a deworming drug, "We pulled blood privately to 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."