Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott has filed a lawsuit in federal court as he seeks to overturn a 15-day suspension he received after one of his horses, Saratoga Snacks, tested positive for overages of the therapeutic medications furosemide (Lasix/Salix) and flunixin (banamine).
Saratoga Snacks tested positive after finishing last in an allowance race at Belmont Park on Sept. 20, 2014.
The suit, which names ten New York State Gaming Commission members, state steward Stephen Lewandowski, and New York Drug Testing and Research Program director Dr. George Maylin, alleges that the state failed to allow Mott due process in appealing the suspension and that the trainer’s livelihood is suffering as a result of the state’s unfair actions. Mott claims that when he requested a split blood sample to challenge the positives, the commission officials forwarded a urine sample, which was “completely useless to serve as a referee sample, given that only the quantitative levels allegedly found in the post-race blood sample served as the basis upon which Mr. Mott received his violation.”
Mott attorney Andrew Mollica said Thursday his understanding is that urine samples are useful primarily to detect the presence or absence of a no-tolerance drug such as cocaine, not to determine the concentration of a therapeutic substance.
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