Less than three weeks after an announcement about a new integrity initiative being launched by the Woodbine Entertainment Group and track owner Jeff Gural, leading trainer Ron Burke had a horse test high for blood-gas levels at The Meadows on Monday, Jan. 22, in a pre-race test.
Per Pennsylvania’s rules, a horse which tests high is scratched and suspended from racing for 30 days.
The trainer is also suspended for 30 days and is fined $1,000.
A positive TCO2 test in Pennsylvania is appealable.
Burke declined to comment.
Besides the fact that a 30-day suspension would require his stable to be managed by another trainer if the positive is upheld, Burke’s TCO2 positive could also be a problem for his horses competing in stakes at Woodbine tracks and the Meadowlands, Tioga and Vernon Downs, which are owned by Gural.
With the rules initially suggested for the new Standardbred Racing Integrity and Accountability Initiative, if a horse received a Class 1, II, TCO2 or steroid positive in 2018, the owner or owners of that horse would be banned from competing in stakes with any horse in which they own at least a 25 percent share.
By Kathy Parker
www.harnessracing.com
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