New Jersey suspends Wesley Ward for prohibited substances

The New Jersey Racing Commission suspended trainer Wesley Ward for 15 days and fined him $2,000 after the prohibited substances naproxen and metformin were found in one of his horses who raced at Monmouth Park last year.

The suspension began Friday and runs through July 7.

The horse involved is named Insanity It Seems, a 2-year-old gelding at the time of the race, which he won by 2 1/4 lengths. He is owned and was bred by Ward.

The commission ruled that Insanity It Seems, who hasn’t raced since but is working at Keeneland, was disqualified from sharing the purse.

Ward told Horse Racing Nation he did not challenge the ruling.

“I didn’t want to appeal it. I just wanted to get it over and done with and move forward.”

His attorney, Darrell Vienna, told HRN, “the substances that were detected in this matter were at extremely low levels. There was uncontroverted evidence presented at the hearing which was consistent with environmental contamination. And ultimately, the sanction resulted entirely from a position of strict liability, which is a standard under which a person is liable even in the absence of fault or intent.”

Ward received the lowest possible points penalty for the violation.

Vienna noted that the “points are assessed consistent with the severity of the violation, and being assessed the lowest level of points would indicate that, to some extent, the stewards gave consideration to the evidence of environmental contamination. There was no direct evidence of any action or liability or intent or fault on Mr. Ward.”