Report: Trainer Forster suspended for drug positive

Trainer Grant Forster has accepted a 15-day suspension from Kentucky stewards.

Daily Racing Form reported that the suspension stems from a positive finding of gabapentin in Epicurean after the filly finished sixth in a Nov. 26 claiming race at Churchill Downs

The drug is used to treat nerve pain and seizures in humans, according to the report.

Epicurean was claimed from the race by Charles Garvey and now is trained by Robertino Diodoro.

Forster told DRF that the results was “complete shock” and that none of his employees said that they were taking medications containing the drug. His veterinarian said he had last prescribed it “several years ago” to a horse who was foundering on a farm, Forster said.

The suspension was for 30 days, according to the report, but the stewards reduced the penalty to 15 days provided that Forster does not have a Class A or Class B positive for 365 days after the ruling, which was signed on March 12.

Forster told DRF that he has not had a positive for a banned medication in his 20-year training career training other than an overage for the regulated medication phenylbutazone in Washington state in 2005. He was given a warning, DRF reported.