By: Ryan Ross
The Maritime Provinces Harness Racing Commission suspended Michael McGuigan for 15 days and fined him $100 after a horse he trained tested positive for more than the allowable limit of the drug known as Lasix. That drug is used to treat exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage, which causes blood to enter a horse’s lungs from exertion.
Zingers Laugh, a seven-year-old gelding, was involved in a Lasix program and was tested after receiving the drug. McGuigan’s suspension was for 15 days and covered every horse for which he was listed as a trainer. The suspension was set to start Aug. 15, which would have landed in the middle of Old Home Week and the busiest time of year for harness racing in P.E.I. McGuigan is listed as a trainer on several horses running during Old Home Week. He requested a full hearing and a stay of the suspension pending the outcome. The commission denied the stay of the suspension and McGuigan sought a judicial review of that decision. On Aug. 14, P.E.I. Supreme Court Justice Nancy Key ordered a stay of the suspension until after a hearing. No hearing date has been scheduled yet.
