Averly Jane DQ'd for Diabetes Drug, Ward Suspended

Kentucky stewards suspended trainer Wesley Ward for 15 days and disqualified multiple stakes winner Averly Jane  from her victory in the $150,000 Kentucky Juvenile Stakes April 28 at Churchill Downs after she tested positive for metformin.

Metformin is a medication used to control blood sugar and treat diabetes in humans. It was the fourth-most prescribed drug in the United States in 2019.

A second-tier drug violation assigned in Class B by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, metformin is less frequently given to equines. It has been used to counteract the effects of equine metabolic syndrome.

The ruling, issued by Kentucky stewards Jan. 25 after a hearing Ward said occurred last week, initially called for a 30-day suspension and $500 fine, but 15 days are stayed on the condition that the trainer has no Class A or Class B medication violations in any racing jurisdiction within 365 days. The ruling cited "mitigating circumstances (number of violations in relation to overall record)" in the stewards' decision.

According to Ward, who runs a large stable with starts all over North America and Europe, his last medication violation was a methocarbamol violation in 2016.

"We don't have medication at the barn at all, so we don't have mess-ups like this—none," said the Kentucky-based trainer. "Everything is administered by the veterinarian, and my veterinarian doesn't even have it on her truck, didn't even know what it was."

Ward said he could think of no explanation for the drug positive other than environmental contamination, mentioning as an example that some backstretch workers will urinate in horse stalls. After making inquiries, he found that none of his staff takes metformin. 

Ward said his attorney, Darrell Vienna, asked Dr. Richard Sams, professor emeritus at the Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences at Ohio State University, to testify at his hearing and Sams told stewards that drug had no performance-enhancing effect on a horse. Ward indicated the drug was found at a trace level.

His suspension began Jan. 26 and continues through Feb.9.

Averly Jane, a Midshipman   filly owned by Hat Creek Racing, was one of the top short-distance 2-year-old fillies of 2021. She crossed the wire first in four of five starts, ending her season with a fifth-place finish in the Nov. 5 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G2T) at Del Mar as the favorite. She took the Kentucky Juvenile Stakes by 3 1/4 lengths over Vodka N Water , who now moves into first and receives the $91,140 winner's share of the purse. 

As of noon ET Jan. 28, Equibase charts had not been updated to show Averly Jane as disqualified from the Kentucky Juvenile Stakes.

Hat Creek Racing is a partnership headed by bloodstock agent Gatewood Bell, the vice president of racing at Keeneland. He was previously a KHRC commissioner.

Bell did not respond to a phone message seeking comment on the disqualification.

"I just feel terrible for the owners, number one, and my great buddy, Gatewood Bell," Ward said.

A multiple Breeders' Cup-winning trainer known for his achievements with 2-year-olds and sprinters, Ward has become one of the most successful American trainers on the international stage, winning numerous stakes at Royal Ascot during that prestigious British meeting. Removing Averly Jane's Kentucky Juvenile Stakes victory from his Equibase statistics, he has won 2,083 races from 9,872 starts in North America, and his horses have made more than $77 million though Jan. 27.