Flagstaff Tests Positive for Bisphosphonate

The California Horse Racing Board published a complaint May 26 against trainer John Sadler after his grade 1-winning sprinter, Flagstaff , tested positive for a bisphosphonate following a runner-up finish in Santa Anita Sprint Championship Stakes (G2) Sept. 27.

A split sample confirmed the presence of the bisphosphonate clodronic acid, which the complaint indicated is a Class 1 drug in Penalty Class A, for which first offense violations can lead to a minimum one-year suspension absent mitigating circumstances and a minimum fine of $10,000. The class was automatically issued as a result of the drug not currently being categorized by the CHRB, said Darrell Vienna, Sadler's attorney.

"It's currently in the process of being classified as a Class 3," said Vienna.

Class 3 drugs are not deemed to influence performance as much as those in Class 1 and 2.

Vienna said Sadler treated Flagstaff with Osphos, the trade name for clodronic acid, in 2019, though the drug was permitted at the time for older horses. Clodronic acid can 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.

Racing jurisdictions and sales companies began prohibiting bisphosphonates in 2019 in response to fears the drugs could be used to hide radiographic evidence of sesamoiditis in young horses in sales.

This is the second bisphosphonate complaint issued by the CHRB over the past month, following one toward trainer Jeff Metz in late April. No agreement has been reached in the Metz case and a hearing date has not been set. Vienna is also counsel for Metz, and the attorney said records show a veterinarian administering the drug to the horse in question years ago when he was not in Metz's care. 

At issue in the Metz and Sadler complaints is evidence that bisphosphonates can linger and later release in a horse's system long after treatment, sometimes after years, according to animal studies Vienna cited.  

"There is no denial of administration," Vienna said of Sadler. "The administration was legal, within the parameters of the FDA approval. The fact that it shows up nine months (into 2020) is just the pharmacology of the substance."

Vienna said he did not know the precise date Flagstaff received Osphos in 2019.

Sadler could face further discipline from a settlement agreement he made with the CHRB last June, in which the regulator stayed 45 days of a 60-day suspension for medication violations from the spring of 2019. That agreement was under the condition he does not have any Class 1, 2, or 3 drug positives during a year's probation. If he does have such a violation, the 45 stayed days would be imposed following a noticed hearing, according to that ruling.

A 7-year-old gelding owned by Lane's End Racing and Hronis Racing, Flagstaff has raced 19 times for Sadler over a career that began in May 2018. 

In a separate but related complaint, the CHRB noted the horse shall be disqualified, forfeiting the $40,000 he earned in the Sept. 27 race. The gelding was beaten a head by C Z Rocket  in the Santa Anita Sprint Championship at 2-1 odds.

The complaints were dated April 28, the date that CHRB equine medical director Dr. Rick Arthur signed the complaint, according to CHRB spokesperson Mike Marten. 

A hearing date has not been set. Rulings often are not issued for weeks or months after the CHRB issues a complaint. The CHRB began publicizing complaints before rulings last year to increase transparency.

Flagstaff has raced four times since the Santa Anita Sprint Championship, all this year, winning the Commonwealth Stakes (G3) at Keeneland April 3 and the Churchill Downs Stakes Presented by Ford (G1) on Derby Day, May 1.