#US RACING: TRAINER TODD PLETCHER FINED FOR LAPSE BEFORE MAKING SCRATCH

Trainer Todd Pletcher has been fined $1,000 by state racing regulators for failing the follow procedures for administering anti-inflammatory medications in advance of Saturday's $1 million Belmont Derby Invitational, an error that led to the scratch of Emmanuel from the Grade 1 race, the Daily Racing Form reported Sunday.

The DRF's David Grening reported that the New York State Gaming Commission fined the Hall of Fame trainer in a ruling issued on Sunday for “failing to follow procedures listed in the horsemen’s conditions signed prior to the running of the race.” No ruling was listed on the commission's website and representatives of the agency could not immediately be reached on Sunday.

The commission announced the scratch of Emmanuel on Friday on Twitter, saying that it was "due to issues relating to veterinary records" and indicating that the matter remained under review.

Pletcher told the DRF that a packet detailing the protocols that needed to be followed to run in the Belmont Derby was handed out on Tuesday, five days before the race. Among its stipulations was a requirement that entrants must not have received more than one non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) in the week before the race.

An out-of-competition test that showed the presence of dexamethasone in Emmanuel's system triggered a request for veterinary records, which showed that another NSAID also had been given, it said.

“Another medication that was legal and would clear the system in time for the race triggered it,” the DRF quoted Pletcher as saying.

Pletcher blamed the scratch on confusion over a December 2020 rule change by the gaming commission that restricted the administration of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication to horses to one clinical dose during the week before the horse races. Pletcher said most horsemen and veterinarians he spoke with were unaware of this rule change.

“I didn’t think the rule was written clearly and I don’t think people on our team had a clear understanding of the intention of the rule and that includes our veterinary team,” Pletcher told the DRF. “I take full responsibility. It’s my job to know the rules."

Pletcher said that Dr. Scott Palmer, the commission’s equine medical director, told him that the horse would not have tested positive in a post-race test, but still wouldn’t allow the horse to run.

The scratch of Emmanuel may have impacted the outcome of the Belmont Derby, as the son of More Than Ready was one of two horses that figured to contest the pace of the 1 1/4-mile race in the early stages. In his absence, the other speed horse, Classic Causeway, sprang a 26-1 upset by leading from gate to wire.