By: Ray Paulick
Another horse trained by Ramon Preciado in Pennsylvania has been disqualified by State Horse Racing Commission stewards after testing positive for clenbuterol.
Que Facil, first-place finisher of a $6,250 claiming race at Penn National on Aug. 25, tested positive for the bronchodilator listed as a Class 3 drug with a Class B penalty recommendation under Association of Racing Commissioners International guidelines. Preciado waived his right to test a split sample from Que Facil.
This is Preciado’s second notification of a positive test in Pennsylvania for clenbuterol since theejection in April and arrest in July of Marian Vega, a former employee of the stable who admitted giving the drug to horses because of her “hatred” for the trainer. An Oct. 18 article detailed a July 3 positive test for a second-place finisher at Parx Racing.
Preciado was fined and suspended for two clenbuterol positives at Delaware Park in Delaware in August and September of 2015. He received two more positives for the drug last October and November and six more in March and April of 2016. Stewards at Parx Racing near Philadelphia suspended Preciado 270 days for the October/November 2015 violations but have adjudicate the March/April 2016 positive tests, other than to disqualify the horses in question.
Parx officials ejected Preciado from the grounds earlier this year, but he has appealed both the 270-day suspension and ejection notice and received a stay of both orders. Alan Pincus, attorney for Preciado, has said the violations from last year and early this year were the result of sabotage by the former employee.
Preciado was leading trainer at Parx Racing in 2014 and 2015. He is currently third in the trainer standings at the Bensalem, Pa., racetrack and casino.
