Flagstaff, May 1 Churchill Downs Stakes (G1) winner for trainer John Sadler, tested positive for a class 1 banned drug after a race in Santa Anita in September.
A California Horse Racing Board complaint states that clodronic acid, a bisphosphonate called osphos, was confirmed in a split sample after Falstaff finished second with a head at CZ Rocket on Sept. 27 in the Santa Anita Sprint Championship (G2).
The complaint asks Sadler to appear before a hearing, even though no date has been set for the hearing.
Sadler is in the middle of a one-year probationary period ending June 28 for drug violations against three horses. He was also fined $ 15,000 and suspended for 60 days, although 45 of those days remained.
According to the complaint, Sadler must not show any violation of the positive class I, II or III drugs during the trial period. In the case of violations of the probation conditions, the 45-day suspension can be imposed after a hearing.
According to TheHorse.com, clodronic acid is a bisphosphonate that inhibits bone breakdown.
The complaint was previously reported by Thoroughbred Daily News and others. Sadler’s attorney, Darrell Vienna, told TDN that Osphos is listed as a Class 1 drug because it is currently unclassified in California. But it goes through the administrative process of being classified as a Class 3 drug, he said.
Vienna informed TDN that Flagstaff was given Osphos at the end of 2019, but that the drug showed up in last year’s test due to a very slow rate of excretion in the horse system – sometimes years.
“I don’t think anything in the report contains any indications of wrongdoing or wrongdoing by Sadler,” Vienna told TDN. “It’s not him who denies the administration. It is a case where the administration is completely legal at this point. The finding is a result of the pharmacology of the substance, not a misbehavior. “
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