RMTC

By Charles D. Brunt

New Mexico Racing Commission stewards suspended trainer Lillian N. Silva for a year and fined her $5,000 after a horse under her care tested positive for more than double the legal amount of the drug Clenbuterol following a Nov. 3 race at Zia Park in Hobbs, according to rulings recently posted on the commission’s website.

The violation, Silva’s third within 365 days, also cost Carlos J. Sosa, owner of the horse Silver Stone Bay, the second-place purse money. Post-race testing showed the horse’s urine contained 307 picograms per milliliter of Clenbuterol, well above the commission’s legal threshold of 140 picograms per milliliter.

Clenbuterol, a drug that dilates bronchial tubes and is an effective treatment for respiratory disease, mimics muscle-building anabolic steroids in higher doses.

Because of a previous suspension that ended Sunday,Silva’s latest suspension runs from Monday through June 21, 2016, records show.

Stewards also suspended trainer Tony M. Gallegos for 365 days and fined him $5,000 after one of his horses tested positive for Clenbuterol after winning a Sept. 17 race at the Downs at Albuquerque. That was Gallegos’ third rules infraction in the preceding year, commission records indicate.

Post-race testing showed Gallegos’ horse, Genuine Kiss, had nearly three times the legal limit.

Genuine Kiss’ owner, Pedro Carrillo Gomez, also was fined $5,000 and had to forfeit that race’s purse money.

Commission rulings are available online at www.nmrc.state.nm.us.