Metz Contests CHRB Bisphosphonate Complaint

The California Horse Racing Board and legal counsel for trainer Jeff Metz are in discussions after the trainer had a horse test positive for tiludronic acid (Tildren), a bisphosphonate, following a race at Santa Anita Park last fall, the trainer's attorney, Darrell Vienna, said. 

The April 30-issued complaint, initially reported by Daily Racing Form, is one of the first positives reported by a regulator for bisphosphonates after many jurisdictions and sales companies began prohibiting the drugs in 2019. The prohibition came in response to fears the drugs could be used to hide radiographic evidence of sesamoiditis in young horses in sales. The drug can also be used to repair bone in horses experiencing navicular disease, for which it is approved in horses aged 4 and older by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The horse that tested positive, Camino de Estrella , finished sixth, beaten 16 lengths, in a claiming race for horses with a $20,000 tag when racing for Metz in the third race at Santa Anita Sept. 27. He raced that day for owners Horseplayers Racing Club, Metz' Saratoga West, Richard Baker, Jeremy Hodges, Philip Kennedy Jr., and Juan Santos.

Trainer Bill Spawr claimed the gelding from the race in question. The now 7-year-old son of Mineshaft   is unplaced in three races for Spawr and the gelding's new owners.

"Neither Metz nor anyone at his request administered Tildren to this horse," Vienna said.

Vienna believes the test results, which he said total two billionths of a gram in urine, are from lingering "residence and release" of the drug. He cited studies, including one he said was from the CHRB, that suggest the drug can linger for 2 1/2 years and even longer in studies, including other animals. 

Referencing a CHRB investigator's report, which the CHRB declined to release in advance of a hearing, Vienna said records show a veterinarian administering the drug to the horse years ago when he was not in Metz' care. Multiple trainers have trained Camino de Estrella over 34 races.

He called assigning blame to Metz as "pin the tail on the donkey based on who is training the horse at the time."

No hearing date on the matter has been established, according to CHRB spokesperson Mike Marten. The complaint calls for the horse to be disqualified, forfeiting $500 in purse money earned. 

The CHRB considers tiludronic acid a Class 1 Penalty Category A violation, a classification for which the regulator's stiffest fines and suspensions are recommended. According to CHRB documents, first offense Category A violations can result in a minimum one-year suspension and a minimum fine of $10,000, absent mitigating circumstances. CHRB regulations allow for a lesser penalty, or none at all, based on factors such as the amount of drug present and whether the drug found was one for which the horse was receiving treatment as documented.