Trainer Robert Roe has been banned from racing for one year and fined $1,000, reports the Thoroughbred Daily News. The ban was handed down by stewards at Prairie Meadows Racetrack after Roe admitted to accidentally spilling a banned substance into an equine feed supplement, and his trainee Candy My Boy subsequently tested positive.
The horse returned positive tests for active ingredients in a natural substance marketed as kratom after finishing second in races on Sept. 20 and Sept. 28. During a hearing on Oct. 22, Roe testified that he had purchased the substance for himself. He said he was aware he’d spilled the kratom into the joint supplement, but did not believe he’d spilled enough to affect the horse.
Candy My Boy was put on the vet’s list for 180 days, and disqualified from both second-place finishes.
While not illegal in the United States, drugabuse.gov reports that kratom contains “compounds that can have psychotropic (mind-altering) effects (…) Kratom can cause effects similar to both opioids and stimulants (…) When kratom is taken in small amounts, users report increased energy, sociability, and alertness instead of sedation.”
Read more at the Thoroughbred Daily News.
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