Racing

Tampa Bay Downs suspends top trainer

Two of Don Rice's horses test positive for an illegal concoction believed to aid performance.

By BOB PUTNAM
Published February 7, 2006

Tampa Bay Downs suspended trainer Don Rice after tests indicated two of his horses were given an illegal concoction to increase speed and endurance.

Rice, one of Tampa Bay Downs' top trainers, has been denied access to the track. Owners have transferred their horses to another trainer to run.

Rice is the first to be penalized since Tampa Bay Downs began random, prerace testing this season for excess carbon dioxide or "milkshaking," a procedure in which trainers force-feed alkaline agents, typically through a tube, directly into a horse's stomach to aid in stamina and recovery.

Tampa Bay Downs media relations director Margo Flynn said Rice did not appeal the decision, which was announced last week. Rice's suspension started Thursday and ends March3.

The track is waiting on the test of another Rice-trained horse. If it is positive, he could be suspended an additional six months.

Rice, in the Daily Racing Form , denied administering milkshakes. Rice also told the Form that if a third sampling was positive, he might move his horses to another track.

"I didn't give them anything," Rice told the Form. "I'm not very happy about this, and I don't think it's completely legal, what they did. But I just want to forget about this and since I'm not ruled off anywhere else in the state I can look around."

In a statement, Tampa Bay Downs vice president and general manager Peter Berube said Rice "cooperated fully" and "has taken all of his and his wife's horses home to Ocala and transferred his owners' horses to (assistant Leselane Pompell, wife of Tampa-based jockey Tommy Pompell)."

Performing-enhancing drugs have been a problem in thoroughbred racing, and many believe it has reached a crisis.

A study in 2004 at California's Del Mar Racetrack found that 10 percent of its horses tested positive for milkshakes, a mix of water, baking soda and other ingredients that may slow the buildup of lactic acid in muscles and enable a horse to run longer and faster - and mask other illegal drugs in the system.

In September of 2005 the California Horse Racing Board adopted emergency regulations to establish policies and procedures to test the total carbon dioxide concentrations in the bloodstream of horses.

At last year's Kentucky Derby, every horse entered was required to have a prerace blood test for milkshaking. And the New York State Racing and Wagering Board enacted prerace milkshaking tests in January.

But some scientists and doctors disagree on the effects of a milkshake on a thoroughbred, and others wonder how much it's happening.

"I hope that one suspension isn't used to define an entire industry," said Dr. Eleanor Green, chief of staff of the large animal hospital at the University of Florida. "I don't think that anyone can say milkshaking is prevalent. That's a fast and hard statement. But you are going to have those people who are going to break the rules."

Tampa Bay Downs adopted its policy this season.

"We were concerned with the possibility of milkshaking within the racing community," Berube said.

Tampa Bay Downs sends its samples from a randomly selected race each day to Bay Care Laboratory of Clearwater, with split samples sent to On Track Laboratory in Pompano Beach and the University of Ohio Racing Laboratory or the University of California Testing Laboratory.

Under the track's policy, the first positive for a milkshake requires a trainer to be subject to surveillance at his or her expense for 30 days.

For a second offense, the trainer is barred from the grounds, and his or her license is suspended for 30 days.

For a third offense, a trainer is suspended for six months.

The Tampa Bay Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association supports the testing, but Flynn said the track cannot fine trainers or redistribute purse money even if they are suspended.

Rice has topped the trainer standings at Tampa Bay Downs eight times. He had two wins in 52 meet starts this season and had earned $87,480 in purses at the time of his suspension.

[Last modified February 7, 2006, 01:13:13]