Trainer Todd Pletcher suspended 10 days after positive 2022 drug test involving Forte

Associated PressMay 11, 2023, 6:18 PM EDT

Matt Stone/USA TODAY NETWORK

NEW YORK — Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher has been suspended 10 days and fined as the result of a positive drug test last year involving Forte, who was scratched hours before the Kentucky Derby last weekend because of an injury.

Forte was disqualified after winning the Hopeful Stakes on Sept. 5, 2022, at Saratoga in upstate New York for testing positive for meloxicam, according to a ruling posted Thursday on the New York State Gaming Commission website.

The drug is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory that is not legal in racing. Pletcher also was fined $1,000. Forte’s owners, Mike Repole and Vincent Viola, forfeit the Hopeful’s first-place purse earnings of $165,000.

The ruling says Pletcher plans to appeal and a stay of the suspension has been granted, allowing him to work. However, the commission may terminate the stay if the hearing isn’t completed within 90 days of the ruling.

Pletcher appeared before New York stewards on Wednesday, a day after The New York Times reported the failed test. The racing publication BloodHorse first reported the disqualification.

Forte was the early favorite for last weekend’s Kentucky Derby, but was scratched by state officials hours before Saturday’s race because of a bruised right front foot. The colt is currently on the Kentucky vets’ list for 14 days, which means he won’t be able to run in the Preakness on May 20.

After the Hopeful, Forte won the Breeders’ Futurity and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and earned the Eclipse Award for 2-year-old champion. Pletcher won his eighth career Eclipse as the nation’s top trainer.

Forte works out, waits for Belmont Stakes clearance

Associated PressMay 27, 2023, 3:14 PM EDT

Matt Stone/USA TODAY NETWORK

NEW YORK — Forte, the early Kentucky Derby favorite who was scratched on the day of the race, worked out in preparation for a possible start in the Belmont Stakes on June 10.

Under regular rider Irad Ortiz Jr., Forte worked five-eighths of a mile for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher. It was the colt’s second workout since being scratched from the Derby on May 6.

“It seems like he’s maintained his fitness level,” Pletcher said. “It seems like everything is in good order.”

Forte was placed on a mandatory 14-day veterinary list after being scratched from the Derby because of a bruised right front foot. In order to be removed from the list, the colt had to work in front of a state veterinarian and give a blood sample afterward, the results of which take five days.

“There’s protocols in place and we had to adhere to those and we’re happy that everything went smoothly,” Pletcher said. “We felt confident the horse was in good order or we wouldn’t have been out there twice in the last six days, but you still want to make sure everything went smoothly and we’re happy everything did go well.”

Pletcher said Kingsbarns, who finished 14th in the Kentucky Derby, will miss the Belmont. The colt is showing signs of colic, although he is fine, the trainer said.

Another Pletcher-trained horse, Prove Worthy, is under consideration for the Belmont. He also has Tapit Trice, who finished seventh in the Derby, being pointed toward the Belmont.

Judge grants Churchill Downs’ request for summary judgment to dismiss Bob Baffert’s lawsuit

Associated PressMay 25, 2023, 9:36 PM EDT

Abbey Cutrer/USA TODAY NETWORK

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A federal judge has granted Churchill Downs’ motion for summary judgment that dismisses Bob Baffert’s claim the track breached due process by suspending the Hall of Fame trainer for two years.

Churchill Downs Inc. suspended Baffert in June 2021 after his now-deceased colt, Medina Spirit, failed a postrace drug test after crossing the finish line first in the 147th Kentucky Derby. The trainer’s request to lift the discipline was denied in February, keeping him out of the Derby for a second consecutive May.

U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings ruled in a 12-page opinion issued Wednesday that Churchill Downs’ suspension of Baffert did not devalue his Kentucky trainer’s license. It cited his purse winnings exceeding $1 million at Keeneland in Lexington and stated that his argument “amounts to a false analogy that distorts caselaw.”

Jennings denied CDI’s motion to stay discovery as moot.

The decision comes less than a week after Baffert-trained colt National Treasure won the Preakness in his first Triple Crown race in two years. His record eighth win in the second jewel of the Triple Crown came hours after another of his horses, Havnameltdown, was euthanized following an injury at Pimlico.

Churchill Downs said in a statement that it was pleased with the court’s favorable ruling as in Baffert’s other cases.

It added, “While he may choose to file baseless appeals, this completes the seemingly endless, arduous and unnecessary litigation proceedings instigated by Mr. Baffert.”

Baffert’s suspension is scheduled to end on June 2, but the track’s release noted its right to extend it “and will communicate our decision” at its conclusion.