Report: Top Arapahoe trainer is suspended after banned items found

Colorado regulators summarily suspended top Arapahoe Park trainer Stetson Mitchell after investigators reportedly found multiple syringes, some with needles attached, and injectable medication in his barn and in a vehicle registered in his name.

The suspension came after investigators found the syringes and drugs in a vehicle belonging to Mitchell and in the rafters of his barn and a hay shed on Oct. 4, closing day of Arapahoe Park’s 42-day race meet, according to Paulick Report, which first reported the discipline.

Suzi Karrer, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Revenue, which oversees the state Horse Racing Commission, confirmed that Mitchell was suspended immediately after a search found the prohibited items. She said she could provide no other details, citing the open investigation.

Mitchell will face a hearing before the Department of Revenue, but no date has been set for the proceeding, she said.

HRN could not reach Mitchell on Monday, but the trainer told Paulick Report that he had lent the vehicle to an employee who said the medication was intended to treat Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis (EPM) in a pony.

He also told the publication that the items found in his barn at the at the Aurora, Colo., racetrack were covered in dust and contended that they were planted and that the person who did so tipped investigators and told them where to look.

“It's been a very odd meet where I've had a lot of things planted in my barn that I've reported to the commission and they pick the last day of the meet to come down here; it's very strange,” Mitchell was quoted as saying. “I actually turned in a needle and syringe that was found in my shedrow to the commission and asked them to test it. That was more than a month ago and it's still out. They say they have no answers for it.

“I think the person who dropped the syringe planted the other stuff and accidentally dropped that at the time.”

Mitchell has been the leading trainer at Arapahoe Park since the 2019 season, including at the just concluded meet, where he posted 35 victories from 223 starters, according to Equibase statistics. He told Paulick Report that the track chose not to hold a ceremony awarding the title on closing day, telling him they wanted to wait until final drug tests had come back. His entries for the day were stewards' scratches, it said.