Headlines

by Ed DeRosa

Hollywood Hit, the three-year-old Cactus Ridge gelding who set a track record for six furlongs on the Polytrack surface at Woodbine when winning the King Corie Stakes in 1:07.38 on September 30 (video), tested positive for Acepromazine following that race.

Woodbine stewards have disqualified him from first-place money and suspended Hollywood Hit for 90 days.

Terry Jordan, who trains the gelding for Peter Redekop, confirmed the positive test and suspension on Sunday after the story first appeared on the Daily Racing Form blog, The Inside Post. The suspension took effect October 9 and would preclude Hollywood Hit from competing in the Breeders’ Cup World Championships or other major Grade 1 races for sprinters the rest of the year, such as the Malibu Stakes (G1).

“We’re devastated over the situation,” Jordan said. “[By suspending the horse] they’ve taken a tremendous opportunity away from the owner. You can penalize me all you want because I’m ultimately responsible, but don’t penalize the owner. He did nothing wrong.”

Jordan said that he already has spoken to a lawyer about appealing the decision and to request that stewards and the Ontario Racing Commission test a split sample. The trainer admitted to administering Acepromazine to Hollywood Hit during training but he said he did so well in advance of the September 30 race.

“I have no idea how he got a tranquilizer before the race,” Jordan said. “Imagine how fast he would have run without it?

“The withdrawal time guideline is 36 hours, and the last time we would have given him [Acepromazine] would have been more than 72 hours before the race. We feel someone did this to us. I’m not a person who won’t accept responsibility, but we followed the guidelines.”

The Association of Racing Commissioners International lists Acepromazine as a Class 3 drug, meaning it “may or may not have generally accepted medical use in the racing horse, but the pharmacology of which suggests less potential to affect performance than drugs in Class 2,” which “have a high potential to affect performance.”

Redekop acquired Hollywood Hit from owner-breeder-trainer C. R. Trout after the gelding won a six-furlong allowance race in May at Lone Star Park by 7 3/4 lengths in 1:08.31. In his previous start in April at Oaklawn Park, Hollywood Hit finished second to eventual Grade 2 winner Kensei.

Ed DeRosa is news editor for Thoroughbred Times