Trainer Ortiz Fined, Suspended for Clenbuterol

Owner-trainer John Ortiz has been fined $500 and issued a 30-day suspension by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, 15 of them stayed, after Woopigsooie tested above the permitted threshold for clenbuterol after a $16,000 claiming race at Ellis Park July 2.

Clenbuterol is a medication that can be used therapeutically to assist horses with respiratory ailments but its use close to race day is prohibited due to its muscle-development properties. Its recommended withdrawal time in Kentucky has been 14 days, though this month the KHRC passed a regulation prohibiting horses from running after being treated with the mediciation for a period of 21 days.

It is a Class 3 drug with a B Penalty Class, according to Association of Racing Commissioners International. ARCI considers such medications to have accepted medical use and less potential to affect performance than Class 1 or 2 drugs.

In staying 15 days of Ortiz's suspension, provided he does not have any Penalty Class A or Class B medication violations within a year, stewards cited mitigating circumstances that included the July 2 test result as the first medication violation of the trainer's career. His suspension is scheduled Dec. 20-Jan. 3.

Woopigsooie, owned at the time by Woo Pig Stables, has been disqualified, forfeiting the $1,350 he earned by finishing third. The 3-year-old Secret Circle colt was claimed in August and now races for different connections.