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Second Failed Post-Race Test for Baffert-Trained Gamine

Gamine tests positive for betamethasone after her Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) finish.

Gamine trains at Churchill Downs prior to the Kentucky Oaks

Gamine trains at Churchill Downs prior to the Kentucky Oaks

Coady Photography

Legal counsel for trainer Bob Baffert issued a statement to BloodHorse and other media outlets Oct. 22 acknowledging that two-time grade 1 winner Gamine tested positive for betamethasone after her third-place finish in the Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) Sept. 4 at Churchill Downs. Betamethasone is a corticosteroid, an anti-inflammatory medication.

The New York Times reported the post-race positive for Gamine on Thursday based on two anonymous sources. Baffert's attorney, Craig Robertson, issued a release Thursday night confirming the test results. 

The New York Times story followed a tweet by the Kentucky Public Protection Cabinet that one of the primary samples from a runner on Kentucky Oaks Day indicated a Class C medication violation. Typically, stewards do not call positives until after split sample results are examined by the laboratory, but with the findings being reported, Baffert's attorney acknowledged that Gamine was the horse in question.

Kentucky lists betamethasone as a permitted medication and a Class C drug, which is in line with the Association of Racing Commissioners International's Uniform Classification Guidelines for Foreign Substances. While it can be used in racehorses as a therapeutic, as of late August, Kentucky requires at least a 14-day withdrawal time and finds that any level of detection on race day is a violation.

First-offense penalty recommendations for a betamethasone positive for the trainer is a fine of at least $1,000, absent mitigating circumstances. A second offense (within a year) for a drug in the Class C category, or category of more concern, calls for a $1,500 fine and 15-day suspension. A first offense for the owner calls for disqualification and loss of purse and requirements that the horse pass a commission-approved examination before being allowed to compete again. A second offense for the same horse calls for disqualification, loss of purse, and placing the horse on the veterinarian's list for 45 days.

This is the second failed post-race test this season for Gamine, who is campaigned by Michael Lund Petersen. After her victory in a May 2 allowance-level race at Oaklawn Park, the daughter of Into Mischief  tested positive for lidocaine and was disqualified upon confirmation with testing of a split sample. Lidocaine, a local anesthetic, is permitted in horse racing but calls for a 72-hour withdrawal time. Overages fall in the Class B category, which calls for harsher penalties than Class C. Baffert is appealing the decision, blaming the positive on environmental contamination linked to a pain patch worn by one of his employees.

If the final outcomes of the findings in Arkansas and Kentucky are ruled positives, the betamethasone finding in Kentucky would likely be considered a second offense.

A disqualification from Gamine in the Kentucky Oaks would result in the elevation of Speech from fourth to third. It would not affect returns for bettors or the official results for the 1-2 finishers, Shedaresthedevil and Swiss Skydiver. The third-place finisher in the Oaks, one of the most prestigious races in the country for 3-year-old fillies, earns $120,000.

Betamethasone is a permitted therapeutic medication in Kentucky, which recently updated its rules on corticosteroids. Until late August, betamethasone carried a withdrawal guideline of seven days. But in late August new medication rules went into effect in Kentucky that prohibit the administration of any corticosteroid within 14 days of a race. Ahead of that change, the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission launched an extensive effort to make horsemen and vets aware of the updates.

When Kentucky put those rules in place, it eliminated the 10 picogram-per-milliliter of plasma or serum threshold that was in place. The new rules made any finding of betamethasone in a post-race test a violation.

Betamethasone also can be tricky to clear from a horse's system based on how it is administered. Guidance from Kentucky, the ARCI, and the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium note that the administration of betamethasone should be intra-articular and that intra-muscular administration of betamethasone should be avoided because it can result in "plasma or serum concentrations that will exceed the regulatory threshold for weeks or even months, making the horse ineligible to race for an extended period."

Also, Kentucky advises vets to increase withdrawal time based on the ratio of betamethasone acetate to betamethasone sodium phosphate.

Baffert's attorney said the betamethasone was administered 18 days before the Kentucky Oaks, and the vet followed the various guidelines.

"The medication was administered to Gamine on August 17 by her veterinarian and on the veterinarian's recommendation. Importantly, the veterinarian followed established medical and regulatory guidelines in administering the medication," Robertson said. "The withdrawal guidelines published by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission recommend that the medication not be given within 14 days of a race. In this instance, as an additional layer of protection, Gamine's veterinarian last treated her with betamethasone 18 days before the Oaks."

Scenes on<br>
March 26, 2020  in Versailles, KY.
Photo: Anne M. Eberhardt

Robertson said Gamine's test came in at the 27-picogram level. As noted previously, Kentucky had been at the 10-picogram threshold until August when that was updated to 0, or any finding.

Robertson questioned the low thresholds for permitted medications and the accuracy of withdrawal times being given horsemen and vets.

Between her Oaklawn race and the Kentucky Oaks, Gamine won the Longines Acorn Stakes (G1) at Belmont Park and the Longines Test Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course. She won the Acorn by 18 3/4 lengths in a stakes-record time of 1:32.55 for a mile.

The Kentucky Public Protection Cabinet, of which the KHRC is a part, first put out news Thursday that there was a failed post-race test from this year's Oaks Day based on findings of Industrial Laboratories in Wheat Ridge, Colo. 

"The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission's official laboratory, Industrial Laboratories (Wheat Ridge, Col.), has returned all post-race sample results from both the Kentucky Derby Day and Kentucky Oaks Day races. The Derby day samples were "cleared," showing no irregularities," the two-part tweet said, adding. "The Oaks day samples returned a finding for a class C medication in one (1) primary sample. The KHRC is following its regulatory process in conducting a follow-up investigation of this matter. Accordingly, the names involved will be released at the completion."

When Gamine tested positive at Oaklawn this year, she wasn't the only horse trained by Baffert to fail a post-race drug test that day. Charlatan , who won a division of the Arkansas Derby (G1), also came back positive for lidocaine and was disqualified. Baffert also is appealing that decision.

This month, the California Horse Racing Board plans to revisit a post-race positive for the Baffert-trained duo of Justify , following his victory in the 2018 Santa Anita Derby (G1), and Hoppertunity , following his victory in the Tokyo City Cup Stakes (G3) that same weekend. The CHRB initially didn't call positives after those laboratory findings as its equine medical director, Dr. Rick Arthur, attributed the findings for scopolamine to environmental contamination caused by the ingestion of jimson weed.

This story has been updated to correct the the Arkansas Derby divisional winner trained by Baffert who tested positive for lidocaine.