By: Matt Hagerty
The Texas Racing Commission has upheld the summary suspensions it handed down to three Quarter Horse trainers in June for positives for the banned antidepressant nomifensine, according to records of the commission released Saturday.
In upholding the indefinite suspensions, the commission’s stewards disregarded testimony from all three trainers that the drug was administered without their knowledge by a single veterinarian who treated all of the horses who tested positive for the drug, which could have stimulant-like effects. The three trainers all identified Justin Robinson as their veterinarian.
“The board of stewards does not find it credible that Dr. Robinson administered nomifensine to horses in the trainers’ stables without the trainers’ knowledge and consent,” the ruling stated. “However, if Dr. Robinson administered the nomifensine without the trainers’ knowledge, the trainers have still acted, because they gave the veterinarian the freedom to administer substances at his own discretion to horses in their care, custody, and control.”
One of the trainers issued a summary suspension is Judd Kearl, who was second in wins among all Quarter Horse trainers nationwide at the time the ban was handed down. The others are Jose Sanchez, sixth in wins at the time of the ban, and Brian Stroud. Kearl was charged with five violations, while Sanchez was charged with two and Stroud with one.
Nomifensine was developed 50 years ago and has not been commercially available in the U.S. for 30 years. The drug is a Class 1 substance, considered to have the potential to impact performance and no known therapeutic value.
The three trainers have had their licenses suspended in other large Quarter Horse racing states, including New Mexico, where some of the sport’s most lucrative races were held over the Labor Day weekend.
The unanimous ruling upholding the suspensions was issued following a Sept. 6 hearing for all three trainers. The ruling forcefully argues for holding the trainers accountable under the absolute-insurer rule, a regulation in place in every U.S. racing jurisdiction holding trainers strictly liable for the condition of their horses.
“To allow a trainer to abdicate responsibility because they did not have information that they by rule should have is inappropriate, given the very real potential danger to the health and safety of the horses and riders that participate in the sport,” the ruling stated. “This active, willful ignorance endangers the public welfare in that the integrity of the wagering pools could be compromised.”
Quarter Horse racing in the U.S. has been rocked over the past decade by spates of positives for illegal drugs that seem to have little crossover to Thoroughbred racing, as well as by allegations that cartels have used the sport to launder drug money.
