Multiple Irish champion trainer Aidan O'Brien was fined $1,500 by New York regulators after three sealed bottles of Duphaylyte Solution was found in his "care, custody, and control" when three horses shipped to Belmont Park for the July 8 Stars and Stripes Festival under the care of an assistant.
In the grade 1 Belmont Derby Invitational Stakes, the O'Brien-trained duo of Homesman and Whitecliffsofdover finished third and seventh, respectively. In the grade 1 Belmont Oaks Invitational Stakes, the stable's Key To My Heart ran last in the 11-horse field.
The July 9 stewards ruling states the three 500-milliliter bottles of injectable Duphaylyte Solution contained "vitamins, amino acids, electrolytes, and glucose." Although the solution is allowed for use in horses, the presence of the injectable without being under the control of a veterinarian violates New York State Gaming Commission rule 9 NYCRR 4012.1 (A)(1).
That rule states, in part:
"No person other than a commission veterinarian, track veterinarian, or a practicing veterinarian licensed by the commission shall have or possess in or upon the premises of a licensed or franchised race track, including premises that the person occupies or has a right to occupy, or shall have or possess in his or her personal property or effects upon such premises the following: (1) any equipment that may be used for hypodermic injection or other infusion into a horse or any vial, bottle or cartridge designed and usable for such purposes..."
A NYSGC spokesman said if the substance in the three bottles is verified after testing to be what is described on the label, the only violation is that it is not permissable to be on the premises except as outlined in the rule.
