by Tom De Martini

The New Jersey Racing Commission drew blood samples from more than 40 horses in the barn of Monmouth Park leading trainer Bruce Levine this week as part of its random out-of-competition testing program.

Frank Zanzuccki, the commission’s executive director, said the testing of Levine’s horses was planned about two weeks ago and was performed on a random basis.

“We do some testing based on information and intelligence we receive, but this was done as a random sampling,” Zanzuccki said. “We have other trainers based at Monmouth Park whose horses will be tested in a similar fashion in the near future.”

Zanzuccki said Levine was the first trainer to have been tested during Monmouth Park’s current meeting.

Levine leads the trainer standings with 27 wins from 56 starts while his closest competitor, Edwin Broome, has 13 victories from 49. Levine also has six second- and six third-place finishes for a 69.6% in-the-money mark.

The commission’s out-of-competition testing program was launched late last year following adoption of a new rule expanding its ability to test horses for illegal substances by authorizing testing at any time at racetracks and farms. The commission previously had been authorized to conduct blood sample testing of horses only on race day and only at the state’s four racetracks.

The New York-based Levine said he feels his hot start at the Oceanport, New Jersey track’s 99-day meeting might have prompted the random testing of his string.

“I would imagine that’s the case,” said Levine, who was in New York at the time the blood samples were taken. “I’m not really worried about [a positive test result] at all. I didn’t get a reason for the testing and by law they don’t have to give me one.”

Zanzuccki said the testing program is necessary to detect the improper administration of blood doping agents, including human EPO—which improves a horse’s performance by increasing red blood cells and oxygen consumption during a race.

The commission’s out-of-competition procedures garnered their first positives in May at Meadowlands Racetrack, where six harness horses trained by Ernest Adam and owned by Stephen C. Slender, D.V.M., tested positive for EPO.

Both Adam and Slender were suspended for ten years and fined $50,000.

Tom De Martini is a New Jersey-based Thoroughbred Times correspondent