Jeffrey Radosevich, perennially the leading trainer at Mahoning Valley Race Course in Youngstown, Ohio, is set to return from a 15-day suspension for a medication violation in December.
Radosevich was fined $500 and suspended by the board of stewards from Feb. 9 through Feb. 23 after Ron Paolucci Racing’s Dinesen, winner of the sixth race on Dec. 21, 2019, tested positive for levamisole, a substance found in commercial dewormers for cattle, sheep and pigs and used off label by some horsemen as a treatment for equine protozoal myelitis (EPM). Levamisole is classified a Class 2 drug by the Association of Racing Commissioners International with a B penalty.
The Racing Medication and Testing Consortium issued an advisory on levamisole in 2017 because the drug can metabolize aminorex and pemoline. The latter are classified as Class 1 drugs because they are powerful stimulants.
Joe Sharp recently received nine $1,000 fines but no suspensions for nine levamisole positives at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans.
Dinesen was disqualified from the Dec. 21 victory and the $6,600 winner’s share of the purse in the $5,000 claiming race has been redistributed. Dinesen came back to run second twice since the positive test and will be the first horse Radosevich saddles when he returns from suspension on Feb. 29 at Mahoning Valley.
Radosevich, currently second in the Mahoning Valley trainer standings, has been leading trainer for each meet at the Ohio track since at least 2017 (Equibase statistics on leading trainer at individual race meets only go back three years).
This was Radosevich’s first medication violation since 2017.
New to the Paulick Report? Click here to sign up for our daily email newsletter to keep up on this and other stories happening in the Thoroughbred industry.
Copyright © 2020 Paulick Report.
