By: Frank Angst
An attorney for Ramon Preciado said Dec. 28 that the trainer does not plan to appeal three recent decisions in Pennsylvania to revoke his license.
“As it stands now with the many different revocations he has, I believe he’s going to give up,” said Preciado’s attorney Alan Pincus. “He would have to attain stays on many different fronts, appeal on many different fronts, and still face the ejection at Parx.”
Pincus said Preciado, who also owns horses, will have to take some time off, show he has rehabilitated, and then re-apply at some point down the road if he wishes to return to racing.
On Dec. 12 the Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission ruled that Preciado’s license should be revoked effective Dec. 22 following his horse, Denzel, testing positive for clenbuterol after finishing second in the fifth race July 3 at Parx Racing.
In revoking Preciado’s license, the PHRC noted the finding in Denzel as well as his record of multiple medication violations. Preciado has had at least a dozen clenbuterol positives in Pennsylvania from late 2015 through 2016.
On Dec. 21 the PHRC again revoked Preciado’s license, effective Dec. 22, after determining Que Facil, who won the sixth race Aug. 25 at Penn National Race Course, also tested positive for clenbuterol.
Also Dec. 21, the PHRC ordered Preciado’s license revoked, effective Dec. 22, on the appeal of two cases tied to eight clenbuterol positives: two in late 2015 and six in March and April of 2016. In his appeal, Preciado had blamed those positives on former employee Marian Vega. In August, Vega was arrested on race-fixing charges tied to administration of clenbuterol in horses in Preciado’s stable.
Pincus said the PHRC ultimately ruled in that appeal that Preciado had failed to secure his horses and still was ultimately responsible for the positives. Since those eight positives, Preciado has had at least four more clenbuterol positives in Pennsylvania.
In April Parx had ruled off Preciado for three years, but he would continue to race there under a temporary restraining order. From five starters as a trainer Dec. 20 at Parx, Preciado had a win and a second. But with the license revocation in place, he has not started a horse since.
For its use to clear up congestion, clenbuterol is considered a controlled therapeutic medication. Because of its potential anabolic side effects, the medication carries a 14-day withdrawal time and a positive post-race test calls for a Class B penalty, second-highest on the Association of Racing Commissioners International uniform classification guidlines for foriegn substances and recommended penalties.
This year as a trainer, Preciado has won 79 of 417 starts and his horses have earned purses of $3.1 million. In both 2014 and 2015 he finished as leading trainer at Parx by wins. Each year since 2006, horses trained by Preciado have exceeded $1.5 million in purse earnings.
Some of his top horses have included grade III winners Lucy N Ethel, Trouble Kid, Amelia’s Wild Ride, and Cherokee Country.
