Trainers Eusebio Juarez Rufino and Shannon Simpson have received lengthy suspensions and prohibitive fines in resolutions posted this week to the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit website. Rufino was issued a 30-month suspension and fined $25,000, while Simpson received a 90-month ban and was docked $62,500.
Rufino's latest sanctions for the banned substance sparteine arise from Windy Racing's Desoto's War testing positive after winning the first race April 28, 2025, at Will Rogers Downs. The horse is now disqualified, and its earnings are forfeited.
Rufino's latest sanction follows an earlier 24-month suspension and $25,000 fine that was handed to him last fall related to a banned substance violation involving the possession of a syringe.
Rufino argued in this most recent case that there was no intent to commit a violation, no performance-enhancement benefit to sparteine, and that any sanction should be mitigated based on inadvertent environmental contamination.
No supporting documents related to Simpson's sanctions have yet been posted by HIWU, but a short summary of the resolution lists him as having been found in violation Feb. 5, 2025, for the banned substances pitcher plant extract, adenosine triphosphate, metabolase, pangamine 250, and aminotonic. Simpson did not race any horses that day, but was based at Turf Paradise at the time.
These banned substances are prohibited for their perceived potential to aid a horse's cellular energy, muscle recovery, and pain tolerance while delaying fatigue.
