A hearing has been scheduled for April 23 into trainer Rick Dutrow’s appeal of a 15-day suspension from Kentucky stewards after his horse, Salute the Count, allegedly tested positive for an excessive amount of clenbuterol following a stakes race at Churchill Downs on May 2, 2008.
According to the stewards’ suspension of Dutrow, Salute the Count tested positive for the overage after finishing second in the $100,000 Aegon Turf Sprint (gr. IIIT) at Churchill the day before the Dutrow-trained Big Brown won the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I).
Clenbuterol, is an approved medication used as a bronchial dilator, which increases lung capacity though it has steroidal properties.
The April 23 hearing will be before Kentucky Horse Racing Commission hearing officer James Robke. In October, the KHRC sent the case back to Robke after it postponed action on the hearing officer’s report at that time. In his Oct. 7, 2008, report, Robke said the KHRC “has not met its burden” to prove by a “preponderance of evidence” the factual allegations against Dutrow are true and that the sanctions were appropriate.