Press Release:
Stewards at Prairie Meadows Racetrack and Casino in Iowa have summarily suspended a Quarter Horse trainer, assistant trainer and a veterinarian after the assistant was seen by security hiding syringes in the barn area.
Suspended pending the outcome of hearings were trainer Kenneth Laymon, assistant Victor Ibarra and vet Verlin Jones. According to the stewards’ ruling, on the afternoon of Aug. 25 a security officer was conducting a barn patrol when she spotted Ibarra walking in front of her. When Ibarra got to the middle of the barn, the officer saw Ibarra place something behind a bale of hay. The officer, Victoria Palmer, asked him to hand over what he just stuffed behind the hay.
Ibarra produced two syringes encased in bubble wrap. Each syringe had a yellow cap over the 1 1/2-inch, 9-gauge needles, and each contained 12 ml of an unknown red substance. Ibarra told the security officer veterinarian Verlin Jones had give him the syringes and said to hide them.
Per Iowa regulations, “a person found within or in the immediate vicinity of a security stall who is
in possession of unauthorized drugs or hypodermic needles or who is not authorized to possess drugs or hypodermic needles shall, in addition to any other penalties, be barred from entry into any racetrack in Iowa and any occupational license the person holds shall be revoked.”
According to Equibase, Laymon has 126 victories from 1,154 starts and has won three graded Quarter Horse stakes since 2011. In 2017, he’s won 14 of 98 starts.
