Blaming a failed drug test on contamination, trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said Friday he would appeal his suspension, a fine and the disqualification of Artie’s Princess, who won a Grade 2 race last year at Presque Isle Downs.
“If I do wrong, I can accept responsibility,” Joseph told Horse Racing Nation on Friday in a phone interview from Florida. “I have no problem accepting responsibility when mistakes are made. It’s not the first positive I’ve had. I know when a positive is our mistake, and I know when it’s not our mistake. In this case it’s not our mistake.”
Paulick Report first reported the Tuesday ruling by the Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission that included a $500 fine of Joseph, whose 15-day suspension was scheduled for June 5-19.
The now 6-year-old mare Artie’s Princess was said by the PHRC to have tested positive for gabapentin, a medication used as a pain reliever for horses. The commission said it was found in her system after she finished first Sept. 19 in the $400,600 Presque Isle Downs Masters Stakes. PHRC rules prohibit even a trace of gabapentin.
Joseph said he got a phone call three weeks after the race telling him of the failed post-race test.
“I had never heard of the medication until then,” he said. “I’ve never used that medication on any horse in my life. I’ve never had a veterinarian use that medication on any horse in my life.”
Joseph said he was confident he would win his appeal, because Artie’s Princess passed a separate, out-of-competition test the day before the Masters. Joseph said the mare spent that night and the following day in a detention barn with other horses entered for the Sept. 19 race.
“She was negative 24 hours before the race, but then she’s positive by urine after the race,” Joseph said. “We asked for the blood report after the race, because she was negative the day before. It’s very rare for them to do an out-of-competition test the day before. In this sense it’s actually a blessing.”
Joseph said the PHRC refused to provide him with a report on the post-race blood work.
A Sept. 28 document filed with the PHRC by veterinarian Dr. Mary Robinson, the acting director of the PA Equine Toxicology and Research Laboratory in West Chester, Pa., showed all 11 horses who were given pre-race tests “were found to be negative for the presence of foreign substances.”
After learning of the positive in the urine test, Joseph said exercised his right to have a split sample tested at Texas A&M. It came back Jan. 3 confirming a trace amount of gabapentin, specifically 0.19 nanograms, or billionths of a gram, per milliliter.
