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Three Arlington trainers suspended for drug positives

Posted: Wednesday, August 25, 2010 11:11 PM

by Neil Milbert

Three trainers—Nick Canani, Mike Stidham, and Ingrid Mason—have been suspended and a total of seven horses disqualified after testing positive for etodolac, a prohibited non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory drug, in races at Arlington Park during June and July.

“Our routine testing [at the University of Illinois at Chicago’s forensic toxicology laboratory] is set up to get as broad a screening as possible,” Illinois Racing Board General Counsel Shelley Kalita said. “Every sample that goes to the laboratory goes through a routine test. There’s no way we can test for every drug, so we rotate some in for specific tests and some out. This summer we started testing for etodolac.”

The Association of Racing Commissioners International lists etodolac as a Class 3 medication: “Drugs that may or may not have generally accepted medical use in the racing horse, but the pharmacology of which suggests less potential to affect performance than drugs in Class 2. Drugs in this class include bronchodilators and other drugs with primary effects on the autonomic nervous system, procaine, antihistamines with sedative properties and the high-ceiling diuretics.”

According to RCI, etodolac “is not available in the United States in a Federal Drug Administration approved equine formulation.”

Canani, who was second in the Arlington trainer standings with 43 winners from 110 races when racing resumed on August 26 after three dark days, had five horses test positive for etodolac. Three were first place finishers and two came in second in their respective races on June 10, 11, and 17, and July 9. All were owned by Frank Calabrese, Arlington’s top owner for ten consecutive years.

Stidham, tied for ninth in the standings with 15 winners from 90 races, had Upperline disqualified from her July 3 victory in the $100,000 Arlington Oaks (G3) because of a positive finding. Upperline is considered unplaced and her owners—Stidham, John Adger, Stone Farm, and Oakcrest Farm—had to forfeit her $60,000 winner’s share of the purse. Snow Mountain was promoted to first, Dundalk Dust is now second, and Chantilly Nayla moved up to third in the 1 1/8 mile race on Polytrack.

Valise tested positive after winning the fourth race on July 10 for Mason, who is tied for 11th in the standings with 14 wins from 46 races.

As with Upperline, the six other horses testing positive for etodolac forfeited their purse money and were declared unplaced.

The three trainers were suspended by the stewards at Arlington. Canani is scheduled to begin a 30-day suspension on Thursday, and Stidham and Mason are scheduled to start 15-day suspensions on September 6.

However, Kalita said all three have appealed and were granted 30 days stays so the samples can be sent to referee laboratories and hearings can be conducted.

Neil Milbert is an Illinois-based Thoroughbred Times correspondent