Trainer Lopez is suspended 3 years for pair of positive tests

Trainer Carlos Lopez has been given two consecutive 18-month suspensions and two $12,500 fines for a pair of positive tests for horses Major Lloyd and Emperor's Gold from a race at Mahoning Valley.

Major Lloyd and Emperor's Gold finished first and second in a conditioned $4,000 claiming race on Feb. 13, separated by a neck. Both horses were ordered disqualified and purses ordered forfeited. The ruling was previously reported by Eric Mitchell of BloodHorse.

According to the case resolution document published by the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit on Jan. 2, Lopez's provisional suspension began March 27. The suspension with respect to Emperor's Gold runs until Sept. 26, while the second suspension for Major Lloyd runs from Sept. 27 through March 26, 2027.

The banned substance diisopropylamine was found in samples taken from both Emperor's Gold and Major Lloyd after the race. Diisopropylamine is classified by HIWU as a vasodilator. It can be used to counteract high blood pressure, though according to a study published in September 2023 by Toung Beom Kwak and Min Sun Choi in the Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis, it can "increase the supply of oxygen and nutrients to the muscles and improve exercise performance."

Major Lloyd was also declared ineligible to race until he tested negative in an out-of-competition test conducted by HIWU and coordinated by a regulatory veterinarian. He last raced for trainer Tara Reffner on Sept. 11, when he was eased in a race at Mountaineer. The ruling with respect to Emperor's Gold did not contain such a stipulation. He was pulled up and vanned off in a race at Mahoning Valley on Feb. 28 and he died in 2024 according to his record with The Jockey Club.