Report: HISA bans trainer Milton Pineda for 15 years
Trainer Milton Pineda was banned from racing for 15 years for violating rules under the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority's anti-doping and medication control program.
Thoroughbred Daily News reported that the Southern California-based trainer was ordered to pay $195,000 in fines and legal fees after an arbitration panel found him guilty of seven violations in a decision dated Tuesday. A full evidentiary hearing was held on Feb. 27, led by arbitrator Nancy Holtz, according to the report.
Seven horses trained by Pineda tested positive for Diisopropylamine last summer after running at Santa Anita and Los Alamitos, according to the report.
Pineda attorney Darrell Vienna told TDN that the decision "is just another example of the overreach and the unfairness of HISA and HIWU" and that he wasn't sure whether Pineda would appeal.
Diisopropylamine is found in tobacco, beauty products and hand sanitizer, according to the report, and Pineda said the positives likely were from cross-contamination through the use of sanitizer by testing-barn personnel at the tracks.
But Holtz said in the ruling that Pineda did not establish that there was no fault or negligence on his part and that hand sanitizer at the test barns was not used by official personnel.
The suspension consists of seven two-year bans for the violations, the maximum possible for a first-time doping violation under HISA, according to the report. He also received a one-year suspension because of "evidence that Mr. Pineda has flagrantly disregarded the ADMC program by breaching his provisional suspension and prior ineligibility, and also exhibited deceptive or obstructive conduct by refusing to allow HIWU investigators to search his phone," according to the report.
Pineda had transferred his horses to Salvador Naranjo, according to the report, and the ruling stated that he was seen several times at Los Alamitos watching his former horses and meeting with Naranjo and groom Filberto Alvarado.
Pineda claimed that he was there "to pass the time" and did not provide training instructions to the trainer and groom, according to the report.