As review continues, regulators announce 2 metformin positives

The Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit posted metformin positives on Friday for two trainers, Greg Foley and Chuckie Lawrence.

The status is listed as pending on both violations, and neither trainer has active provisional suspensions as of their listings on Saturday morning. However, both of their horses are listed as suspended according to the HIWU database. This is in line with a policy that the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority announced earlier in June, requesting that HIWU defer metformin suspensions for trainers.

Metformin, an anti-hyperglycemic, is listed by HIWU as a banned substance. It is a common medication for people with type 2 diabetes. It is prescribed to horses in some cases, including if they cannot exercise due to laminitis or if their insulin levels are high. According to its entry in the list of controlled and banned substances, it is tested for in post-race and vet’s list work tests, out-of-competition tests and post-work tests.

HISA and HIWU have requested that the
Racing Medication and Testing Consortium perform a review of the science
around metformin. The review is expected to take “a few months”, at
which point the HISA board and the anti-doping and medication control
committee will determine whether policy changes are warranted. Metformin
remains on the banned substances list during the RMTC review.

HIWU enforcement around metformin has been controversial, with critics questioning whether it has performance-enhancing capabilities. Jenine Sahadi, a multiple graded-stakes winning trainer who now leads a backstretch services foundation in California, declared the suspensions ‘insanity.’

The metformin positive reported by HIWU for Foley was for Camaro Z, from his third-place finish behind Cugino in the Audubon Stakes at Churchill Downs on June 1. The positive for Lawrence was for Cherished Wish, who finished second in a maiden claiming race at Penn National on May 23. Though current HISA policy calls for horses to be disqualified for metformin positives, neither disqualification has yet been published on the horse’s Equibase chart.