Quarter Horse trainer Adan Farias, arrested last month by federal authorities on money laundering charges involving a notorious Mexican drug cartel, has had his license revoked for two years by the California Horse Racing Board in an unrelated case.
Farias, 32, was also fined $25,000 by the CHRB after urine samples from six horses in his care were found to contain the drug zilpaterol, a Class 1 infraction. The horses involved all raced at Los Alamitos Race Course from Oct. 23-29, 2011.
Zilpaterol is "A beta-2 agonist typically used in livestock production to promote lean muscle growth that has no legitimate purpose in horse racing," the CHRB said in a statement issued in the case.
Farias has not trained since since the positives for zilpaterol occurred. His stable was disbanded in November.
The board also found Farias responsible for a violation for the use of clenbuterol, which has been banned at Los Alamitos. Farias was given an additional six-month suspension and a 10-month fine, but under terms of a settlement with the trainer, the board stayed the clenbuterol penalties. Should Farias reapply for a license after his two-year revocation period and resume training, he would be under a one-year probation and would be required to have no further violations during that time.
The Maddy Laboratory at University of California-Davis made the original positive findings, which were confirmed by the University of Pennsylvania.
All six horses were disqualified from their races, which included four wins, a second, and a third. The purses were redistributed.
These were Farias’ first Class 1 violations, the CHRB reported. He previously had five Class 3 violations.
Farias was named in a June 12 U.S. indictment and was one of seven people initially arrested in connection with an alleged money laundering scheme involving the racing operation Tremor Enterprises and the Mexican drug cartel Los Zetas.