Graham Motion Responds to KHRC Ruling

Following a Kentucky Horse Racing Commission session Oct. 4, which upheld a decision by the stewards to disqualify Kitten's Point from victory in the 2015 Bewitch Stakes (gr. IIIT) at Keeneland, her trainer Graham Motion forwarded a letter to the editor.

Motion's letter follows:

After over 11,000 starters and more than 2,000 winners over the course of  more than 20 years, today I was fined by the Kentucky Racing Commission for the first positive in my career and Kitten's Point was disqualified from her win in the 2015 Bewitch at Keeneland. This hearing took place in a meeting where I was denied the opportunity to address the commission. Of course I wanted to defend myself, but moreover I wanted to address some of my concerns with this medication and how it was handled. The entire process has been extremely disappointing and troubling to me.

I always felt that if the day ever came where, by some unforeseen circumstance, I was charged with a drug violation I would not lawyer up to defend myself but rather take my punishment and move on. It would upset me to see trainers go to such great lengths to defend themselves. But when I found myself in that position, I felt differently. I felt that my staff and I had gone to extraordinary lengths to protect myself and my clients.

When I was made aware of a withdrawal time I would add plenty of cushion, as was the case with Kitten's Point. The last time she was treated with Robaxin was seven days before the race, more than double a recommended withdrawal guideline published by the KHRC. After all if we as trainers cannot rely on the guidelines that are given to us, how on earth can we be expected to operate within the rules?

Moreover I was troubled to learn that the current threshold for Robaxin as set by the (Racing Medication and Testing Consortium) and adopted by the KHRC was not supported by good science, including going completely against the recommendation set by the head of the KHRC's testing lab, Dr. (Rick) Sams. Unfortunately in my case I was not allowed to defend myself based on the science, including a recently approved paper published by Heather Knych, which clearly states that the RMTC guidelines for Robaxin are misguided. In my opinion this is information that should be turned over to horsemen as quickly as possible. Surely the KHRC is not looking to trip up horsemen with unsupported thresholds and guidelines? In a time of ever-changing restrictions on certain medications, it should be imperative that horsemen are kept informed.

Equally as important to me is the way in which our samples are handled. I strongly believe that it is a good thing that post-race testing has become increasingly more sensitive, but shouldn't there be a responsibility with the commission that our samples are handled with the utmost of care? We are now being tested for nanograms—that is a billionth of a gram. It is disturbing to me that the samples are frequently collected and handled in unsecure environments. Very little has changed with regard to this process over the years considering the technology and sensitivity of the testing process. 

So there, I have said it. 

All I was asking for was two minutes. It didn't seem like an unreasonable demand. By all means, we need to keep our game honest, but at what cost to the guys that are trying to play by the rules?