Spawr Fined in Albuterol Cases

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Trainer Bill Spawr was fined $8,500 by track stewards for two post-race urine tests that revealed Albuterol in the systems of two horses who won races while in his care last year.

The two horses are McAdam, who won the 9th race at Santa Anita on January 1, 2002, and Bafferta, who won the 6th race at Santa Anita on March 8, 2002. Both positives were in violation of California Horse Racing Board rule 1859.5. The purses in each case will be redistributed after the owners of the respective horses return the winner's share of the purse monies to the track's paymaster of purses.

According to stewards Ingrid Fermin and Tom Ward, the ruling is mostly a formality, finalizing a stipulated agreement that Spawr worked out with the CHRB. It was handed down after the initial positive and subsequent testing of the split sample both returned with amounts of Albuterol over what the state has established as threshold limits of the drug.

In January of 2002, the state changed the rule to expedite the judicial process, allowing trainers to work out agreements for some class 1, 2 and 3 drug positives.

Albuterol is considered a class 3 substance, which includes bronchodilators, antihistamines, and other drugs that work on the cardiovascular, respiratory and/or autonomic nervous systems.

Spawr, who was tied for fifth place in the current Santa Anita trainer standings with four winners through Sunday, had no comment about the decision, saying simply, "It's over. Those are from two years ago anyway."

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