N.Y. commission is scheduled to rule on Forte drug DQ
Fifteen months after the race was run, the appeal of Forte’s drug disqualification from a Grade 1 victory at Saratoga is scheduled to get aruling Monday from the New York State Gaming Commission.
Trainer Todd Pletcher appealed the stewards’ May 11 findingthat Forte tested positive for 500 picograms of meloxicam, a pain reliever thatis not allowed for racehorses. The commission demoted Forte from first to lastplace in the Sept. 5, 2022, running of the Hopeful Stakes in which thefirst-place prize was $165,000. Pletcher was given a 10-day suspension and a$1,000 fine.
The DQ, suspension and fine were put on hold when Pletcherappealed, telling BloodHorse that Forte “has never been prescribed oradministered meloxicam.” The appeal process called for a hearing officer tohandle the case and make a recommended ruling that the commission can accept orreject when it meets Monday at 1 p.m. EST in New York.
A spokesperson for the commission would not divulge thedetails of what will be considered Monday, saying, “By law, adjudicatorymaterial cannot be released until after the matter at hand has been formallyacted upon by the commission, after which it becomes subject to FOIL (New York’sfreedom-of-information law). In other words, we expect that it will be subjectto FOIL after Monday’s commission meeting.”
Pletcher’s attorney Karen Murphy could not be reached Friday.
The case came up 11 days before federal medication regulationstook effect May 22. Without referencing Forte directly, Horseracing Integrityand Safety Authority CEO Lisa Lazarus told Thoroughbred Daily News that 500picograms of meloxicam “would be below our screening limit and would not everbe notified as a positive under HISA.”
Mike Repole and Vinnie Viola own Forte. Repole told BloodHorseif the commission were to turn down Pletcher’s appeal, he would take the caseto court.
Forte, who was voted the 2022 champion juvenile male fourmonths before the drug positive was revealed, was retired Oct. 19 to begin a breedingcareer at Spendthrift Farm. Not counting the Hopeful, the 3-year-old Violence coltwon three Grade 1 races, including the Breeders’ Futurity and Breeders’ CupJuvenile in 2022 and the Florida Derby in 2023.
Injuries marred Forte’s 2023 season. A bruised hoof led tohis being scratched on race day from the Kentucky Derby, where he was themorning-line and futures favorite. A pesky quarter crack kept him out of theBreeders’ Cup Classic and hastened his retirement.
According to Equibase, which still counts the Hopefulvictory, Forte finished his racing career with a record of 10: 7-1-0 andearnings of $3,029,830.
