Lopez Suspended 18 Months, Fined for Banned Substance

Mid-Atlantic trainer Carlos Lopez has been suspended for 18 months and fined $12,500 related to positive post-race test results for the performance-enhancing substance diisopropylamine in a pair of runners that finished 1-2 in a Feb. 13, 2024, claiming race at Mahoning Valley Racecourse.

Lopez agreed to the findings from the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit that he violated Anti-Doping and Medication Control program rules and accepted his penalties without a hearing, according to HIWU documentation.

The trainer began his period of ineligibility March 27, 2024, when a provisional suspension was imposed due to the presence of a banned substance. His suspension will run through Sept. 26, 2025. The penalties include loss of purse and disqualification.

The positive results followed the testing of Major Lloyd, a now-6-year-old gelding by Creative Cause, who won the one-mile race at Mahoning Valley by a neck over Emperor's Gold, who was Lopez's other horse to test positive. Emperor's Gold is a now-10-year-old gelding by Soaring Empire. Major Lloyd was owned at the time by Samantha McCoy, and Emperor's Gold was owned by Deena Wells Clark.

Diisopropylamine is a vasodilator that can increase the supply of oxygen and nutrients to muscles and improve exercise performance, according to a September 2023 study in the Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis titled "Identification of a metabolite for the detection of the hydrophilic drug diisopropylamine for doping control." The study notes there are concerns about side effects from this drug when it is abused.