Is trainer Rick Dutrow back in business in Saudi Arabia?

Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup Classic-winning trainer Rick Dutrow, who is serving a 10-year U.S. suspension from the New York State Gaming Commission, appears to back in the industry overseas.

Multiple Twitter accounts based in Saudi Arabia, including one said to belong to Faisal bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, once head of The Thoroughbred Corporation that campaigned horses such as War Emblem and Point Given, indicate Dutrow will serve as a “technical adviser” to an owner in the Middle East.

Dutrow, handed his suspension in 2011, began serving the term in 2013 when he exhausted his appeals for repeated violations. He filed for bankruptcy in 2017, and litigation was filed against him in November for attempting to hide assets to delay due payments, according to the Thoroughbred Daily News.

The 2008 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Big Brown and the 2005 Breeders’ Cup Classic champion Saint Liam were among Dutrow’s notable trainees. Dutrow was swept up in controversy amid Big Brown’s Triple Crown campaign when he said he administered steroids to his horses. The New York decision came after a positive drug test and discovery of syringes in a desk door at his Aqueduct barn.

“I thought when all this went down we were going to prove them wrong and move on,” Dutrow said in a recent Paulick Report interview. “It was ridiculous, as far as we saw. But that's not how it worked out for us."

Applications to the New York State Gaming Commission to reopen Dutrow’s case and reinstate his trainer’s license have been unsuccessful. Dutrow has many supporters within the industry, among them trainer Dale Romans, who last year started an online petition with the goal to have him reinstated. 

According to Equibase, Dutrow won 1,811 races, and his horses earned more than $87 million. His biggest year coincided with Big Brown’s run at the Triple Crown.