Regulators provisionally suspend trainer Lorenzo Ruiz

Trainer Lorenzo Ruiz has been provisionally suspended after a pair of alleged detections of diisopropylamine, a substance banned under the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act.

The Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit identified two horses who allegedly tested positive for diisopropylamine. The first was 8-year-old gelding Facts Matter, who won a $6,250 starter allowance at 5 1/2 furlongs on dirt at Los Alamitos on June 23. The second, 4-year-old gelding American Cat, won a $16,000 claimer for non-winners of two races lifetime at Los Alamitos on June 25. According to HIWU, tests after these races returned positive for diisopropylamine.

Ruiz is both the owner and trainer of Facts Matter. Ruiz is part of the partnership who owns American Cat, along with Belico Racing and Jaime Valdez. Both of these horses ran back at Los Alamitos since their late-June starts but before their trainer's provisional suspension. Facts Matter returned July 8 to finish a troubled fifth of six as the odds-on favorite in an $8,000 claimer over the same course and distance. Americn Cat finished third in a California-bred allowance optional-claiming race July 9.

Under HISA rules, diisopropylamine is listed as a banned substance, specifically a vasodilator that lacks FDA approval. Two other trainers, Milton Pineda and Reed Saldana, have also been provisionally suspended for alleged diisopropylamine detections in horses.