Trainer Jorge Duarte Jr., head trainer for Richard Santulli’s Colts Neck Stables, had a provisional 60-day suspension related to a methamphetamine positive lifted effective Sept. 20, according to the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit.

The stay of his suspension, after he had served 15 days of his penalty, was granted after he provided “relevant and meaningful information regarding the likely source of unintentional transfer or contamination.”

Gathering that information proved a formidable task considering Colts Neck operates out of a private training center, so its ships every time a horse is going to run. On May 22, Colts Neck ran a 4-year-old gelding named Happy Cat  in the fifth race at Delaware Park. The Kitten’s Joy gelding ran second and was selected for a postrace urine sample to be tested.

Duarte got notified June 26 that the sample tested positive for methamphetamine.

“I am accredited through ROAP (Racing Officials Accreditation Program) so I knew the procedure; we needed to find the source,” said Duarte.

He immediately had the horse’s groom drug tested and submitted a drug test himself. In a review of everyone else who had contact with the horse that day, the trainer noted he’d used a freelance hot walker named Antonia Santiago at the track. Getting the hot walker tested proved to be a challenge because she is not one Duarte’s employees. He had to go through the Delaware Racing Commission to get the drug test set up and a week later, the testing got done. But it was not an unannounced test and it returned a negative result for methamphetamine.

“We put a lengthy investigation into it right away,” said Duarte. “It is challenging because I had a lot of negative tests and not the ability to test the gate crew or anyone like that because I’m not the commission. As the trainer, you can narrow it down with people on your payroll, but there could be 12 more people who had contact with my horse.”

Duarte’s investigation got a break when a horse that ran for trainer Bonnie Lucas at Delaware Park the day after Happy Cat also tested positive for methamphetamine. The second horse’s HIWU sample collection form identified Santiago as the horse’s hot walker.

The source of the contamination was identified, but Duarte still had to prove it. He contacted Santiago Sept. 11 about submitting a hair sample for drug testing, which she declined. Santiago told the trainer she had started a new medication and there was a chance she would test positive.

Duarte asked what medicine she was taking and immediately Santiago cut off all communication. The trainer could see she had read his texts but she never responded.

Along with an affidavit outlining the extensive testing he had done to identify the contamination source and his exchange with Santiago, Duarte also provided HIWU an equally extensive list of the actions he’s taken to prevent medication violations. These included:

• Logging all controlled substances, supplements, dewormers, etc., on the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority portal.
• Enforcing a policy of no urinating in stalls and posting signs around the barns in English and Spanish to remind workers of the policy, handling horses with clean hands, and encouraging the use of gloves during feeding.
• Shipping to fellow trainers’ barns to ensure the horses have clean stalls and avoiding receiving barns whenever possible.
• Completing all trainer continuous education requirements and regularly participating in HISA webinars.

Under HISA’s Anti-Doping and Medication Control program, HIWU has the discretion to lift a provisional suspension “if it considers it appropriate to do so on the specific facts of the case.”

“Based upon (1) proposed ADMC Program Rule 3226(e) and (2) the documentation provided on September 18, 2024, HIWU has determined that it will lift the Provisional Suspension imposed on Mr. Duarte as of today, September 20, 2024. Mr. Duarte has served 15 days of a Provisional Suspension. Pursuant to ADMC Program Rule 3247(j), Mr. Duarte shall receive a credit for 15 days against any period of Ineligibility that may ultimately be imposed,” a letter from Geneva Gnam, litigation counsel for HIWU stated.

“Pursuant to proposed ADMC Program Rule 3226(e), regarding Human Substances of Abuse, this matter is stayed effective today pending FTC approval of proposed ADMC Program Rules.”

Currently, penalties for the use of banned substances, including methamphetamine, carry suspensions from HIWU of up to two years, but HISA has a proposed rule change with the Federal Trade Commission that would reduce the length of a suspension for a drug of human abuse.

These proposed rules “would cap the period of ineligibility related to human substances of abuse to 60 days if HIWU determines that it has a reasonable basis to conclude that, based upon the applicable facts and circumstances, the finding was likely the result of inadvertent human transfer,” according to Alexa Ravit, HIWU’s director of communications and outreach.

HISA is awaiting approval on this rule change from the FTC.