NYSGC Sets New Testing Timetable After Pletcher Case

New York racing regulators said May 22 that they are instituting new timetable procedures for disciplinary cases involving "split-sampling" of alleged equine drug violations, which they said are intended to prevent trainers and others from trying to "game the system."

The procedural changes affect equine samples collected by the state through May 21. On Monday, the new Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority's Anti-Doping and Medication Control program became effective across the United States.

The action by the New York State Gaming Commission follows the recent suspension of Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher, and the disqualification of his colt, Forte, in last year's Hopeful Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course. The commission's leadership used the regularly scheduled May 22 board of directors meeting to give a spirited defense of the state's handling of the Pletcher matter.

After a point-by-point presentation at the start of the meeting by Robert Williams, the agency's executive director, Gaming Commission board chairman Brian O'Dwyer thanked Williams for "setting the record straight."

O'Dwyer said that some of the media accounts regarding the Pletcher case were "quite unfortunate"—he did not elaborate—and said that the agency and its staff "needs to be commended" for the way the Pletcher case was handled.

"I understand there was a time difference, but they did everything they could to give Mr. Pletcher considerable due process, and I'm glad that you were able to set the record straight in that regard,'' O'Dwyer told Williams.

Pletcher earlier this month said Forte  was never prescribed or administered meloxicam, the medication state regulators say was found in Forte's blood sample.

Williams said a "major focus" in media accounts about the Pletcher case has been the length of time between the Hopeful Stakes last September and the suspension and disqualification decision May 11 by state stewards.

Williams said that "in large measure" the delay was due to the process used in the Pletcher case for a "split sample"—allowing those accused of equine drug violations to seek a separate test by an outside lab—and "the efforts of Mr. Pletcher's attorney to delay the process." Williams said it took nearly two months for Pletcher's team to select an outside lab to perform the split-sample tests.

Karen Murphy, the trainer's attorney, has publicly blasted the Gaming Commission for its handling of the case against her client, saying, among other things, that she was not allowed to speak during a May 10 hearing into the matter, or call certain witnesses or to require the state's equine drug director to testify.

Williams said it has been the state's practice for stewards to provide an "informal opportunity" for people accused of drug violations to appear before them to address an alleged violation. A state steward offered three dates for Pletcher's side to meet in such a session; one date was accepted but then postponed. The steward, Williams said, then offered five other possible dates "with the proviso that if the meeting did not occur by the last date, the stewards would deem Mr. Pletcher had declined the opportunity to appear and move forward with the meeting in absentia." Two days before that last possible meeting date, Williams said Pletcher's attorney sought a postponement, "offering no substitute date.'' The stewards declined.

Williams said that split-sample procedures—for samples collected prior to the new federal program kicking in Monday—"have been instituted to reduce the ability of an affected party to game the system."

Williams said "absent extraordinary circumstances" a trainer informed of a positive drug violation must make arrangements within two weeks with an outside lab for an independent review of a sample alleged by the state to be in violation of drug rules. Upon return of the split-sample test, a hearing by state stewards must then be held within three weeks, the agency executive director told the board Monday.

"If a trainer cannot appear within three weeks' time, they will be deemed as to have constructively waived their appearance before the stewards and the matter will proceed,'' Williams said.

Williams said a blood sample in Forte detected the presence of meloxicam, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medication, which he noted is banned in racehorses in New York at any level. Pletcher was also fined $1,000 in the matter.

The suspension of Pletcher has been stayed pending an appeal. Pletcher appeared before stewards during a May 10 hearing, a day after The New York Times reported the drug positive. The owners of Forte have threatened a lawsuit if the state's decision in the case is not overturned.

Williams told the Gaming Commission board Monday that the agency has not deviated from its policy of not announcing medication infractions "until considered by the judges or stewards." He noted, without elaborating, that there are currently three Thoroughbred and two Standardbred split-sample tests now under review at independent labs.