FTC Upholds Trainer Serpe's Two-Year Suspension

A suspension imposed on trainer Philip Serpe by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority was upheld by the Federal Trade Commission in a decision issued June 30. The FTC action kept in place a two-year suspension of Serpe imposed by an arbitrator but reversed the imposition of a $25,000 fine subsequently levied by an administrative law judge. Fast Kimmie, a horse trained by Serpe, won an August 2024 claiming race at Saratoga Race Course. According to the FTC decision, a postrace sample tested positive for the banned substance clenbuterol in violation of Rule 3212 of the Authority's Anti-Doping and Medication Control Program. In October 2024, the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit notified Serpe of his charge. The matter was litigated before the arbitrator in June 2025. The FTC decision says Serpe's defense "provided (the arbitrator) letters from his veterinarians, who swore they did not prescribe or dispense clenbuterol to Mr. Serpe’s horses, and he argued that any of a dozen or so individuals who came into contact with Fast Kimmie in the days leading up to the positive drug test could have been responsible." On July 10, 2025, the arbitrator found against Serpe and suspended him for two years but did not impose a fine. Equibase records confirm Serpe has not entered a horse in a race since then. Serpe lodged an appeal heard by an administrative law judge, who upheld the trainer's suspension and tacked on a $25,000 fine. READ: HISA Arbitrator Suspends Serpe for Two Years The FTC's 16-page decision upheld Serpe's suspension but struck down the fine, ruling the ALJ did not have the authority to impose a fine both because HIWU, which initiated the charge, did not ask for one in the first place; and because the lack of a fine was not a subject of either party's appeal to the ALJ. A major issue raised in the proceeding was whether Serpe has a right to a jury trial under the Seventh Amendment to the federal Constitution. The FTC found this argument was raised too late. The decision says that while that case was in process, "Mr. Serpe repeatedly acknowledged that his right to a jury trial in federal court hinged on whether he faced a fine. Now, for the first time, he argues that the entire enforcement action 'must be adjudicated in federal court irrespective of whether the Seventh Amendment applies because it does not concern public rights.' Mr. Serpe did not raise the argument before the ALJ and waited months before raising it to the Commission; he has thus forfeited the argument." The clenbuterol positive is also the subject of litigation Serpe filed against HISA and the FTC in a Florida federal court when he learned he was being charged. The Florida judge has twice declined Serpe's requests to halt proceedings against him via preliminary injunctions, most recently Oct. 30 when the court held Serpe’s suspension alone "is not a cognizable form of irreparable harm" and there was not "a substantial likelihood of success on the merits." Both factors are thresholds required to obtain preliminary injunctive relief. "We're disappointed that the FTC didn't recognize the Constitutional failings in the HISA adjudication system," said Serpe attorney Josh Robbins of the Pacific Legal Foundation. "We will continue to press those claims in federal court—now with the addition of this unconstitutional outcome—and aim to see Phil's rights vindicated there." Parties to the Florida case have briefed the case, but Serpe's attorneys recently suggested they intend to file an amended complaint to address the outcome of what was then the anticipated FTC ruling.