Breeders' Cup-winning trainer Parbhoo is suspended 2 years

Shivananda Parbhoo, best known for training 2012 Breeders' Cup Sprint winner Trinniberg, has been suspended two years and fined after a horse he trained, American Speed, tested positive for clenbuterol after a race at Gulfstream on Jan. 5.

The suspension and fine were imposed after a binding arbitration conducted Aug. 13. The opinion was published by the Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit on Thursday. The decision was previously reported by Chelsea Hackbarth of Paulick Report.

In addition to the two-year suspension, Parbhoo was ordered to pay a $25,000 fine as well as $10,000 toward arbitration costs. American Speed was disqualified from both a second-place finish in a starter-optional claimer at Gulfstream on Jan. 5 and a fifth-place finish there in a starter handicap on Jan. 24.

According to the facts outlined in the arbitration decision, clenbuterol was found in an opened container of a supplement that Parbhoo's assistant trainer gave to American Speed, though a closed container of the same supplement from the same lot tested negative for clenbuterol.

Parbhoo also challenged the testing of the B sample at the Pennsylvania Equine Toxicology and Research Laboratory. That laboratory's Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority equine analytical laboratory accreditation was suspended for a minimum of six months on July 8, but the arbitrator determined that the testing of American Speed's sample by that lab was proper in this case.

Clenbuterol, a bronchodilator, is banned under HIWU rules for horses who are working or racing. It is permitted to treat airway obstruction issues in horses, though a horse goes on the vet list for at least 21 days after the last treatment and must test negative for it before they can work out or race.