Vazquez Suspended 30 Days, Two Horses Banned 90 Days

Mid-Atlantic trainer Juan Carlos Vazquez was suspended for 30 days by Pennsylvania State Horse Racing Commission stewards Feb. 10 after two of his runners at Parx Racing tested positive for levamisole, a drug that can metabolize into two central nervous system stimulants in horses.

The horses testing positive were Hollywood Talent , an 11-year-old gelded son of Talent Search  who won the Sept. 25, Turf Monster Stakes (G3T); and, Louie's Wish , a 6-year-old gelded son of Louis Quatorze who won a $26,000 waiver claiming race Aug. 30.

Hollywood Talent, owned by Vazquez' King Star stable, won the Turf Monster at more than 108-1 and paid $219.20 to win. The $171,000 winner's share of the purse will now be redistributed to second-place finisher Beer Can Man .

Bing Cherry Racing, the owner of Louie's Wish, forfeits $21,840 from the claiming race win. The victory and first-place money now goes to Legal Gump, who chased Louie's Wish gate to wire.

For each infraction, stewards fined Vazquez $500 and suspended him for 15 days. His suspension from the Louie's Wish positive begins Feb. 21 and runs through March 7. The suspension for Hollywood Talent then starts March 8 and runs through March 22.

In addition to the fines and suspensions, Hollywood Talent and Louie's Wish are prohibited from racing for 90 days from Feb. 21 through May 21. Louie's Wish made six starts at Parx after the Aug. 30 race that resulted in his suspension and placed in two of them. Hollywood Talent has not raced or worked since the Turf Monster Stakes.

Vazquez has the right to appeal these penalties within 10 days of the rulings.

Vazquez has faced a number of drug positives since 2017 when he was denied all privileges of the American Stud Book in April 2017 for a year after violating a racing statute, rule, or regulation relating to prohibited or restricted drugs, medications, or substances in a Thoroughbred on four occasions within a 365-day period. Those violations occurred at Delaware Park on July 9, 2014; at Penn National on Oct. 23, 2014; at Penn National on March 25, 2015; and, at Delaware Park on May 18, 2015. Then four months after he was denied Stud Book privileges, he was suspended 30 days and fined $2,500 for a hydrocortisone hydrogen succinate positive in the horse Here Comes Gary, who won a race at Suffolk Downs Aug. 5.

The trainer had two horses, Valiant Spirit  and Seeking Shamrocks , who won at Penn National Race Course July 18 and July 20, 2018, respectively, and later tested positive for the steroid stanozolol but didn't face any penalties for either case because proper protocol was not followed, according to regulator's records. Vazquez also had a horse test positive for overages of flunixin and phenylbutazone for a Jan. 6, 2019, race at Laurel Park, and was fined $500 and suspended 15 days for an albuterol positive in a Feb. 27, 2020, race at Laurel Park.