Thoroughbred Trainer Suspended 18 Months After Horses Test Positive For Boner Pills

A racehorse trainer in California has been suspended for a year and a half and fined $17,500 after two of his horses, named Iancol and Shakeitupbetty, tested positive for the drug sildenafil (also know as by the brand name Viagra) during the 2016 Del Mar summer meeting, according to the Daily Racing Form.

The trainer, Mike Mudaris, denied doping his horses with Viagra. From the DRF report:

Roger Diamond, an attorney representing Mudaris, said in a telephone interview Monday that Mudaris has appealed the penalties.

Diamond said Mudaris did not administer sildenafil to the horses and is being penalized under the absolute insurer’s rule, which states a trainer is responsible for the condition of the horse, including medication violations.

“He wants to correct the record,” Diamond said.

“The board of stewards did not find Mudaris put any Viagra in the horses’ food or drink. It was allegedly done by his employees. He was not there at Del Mar that day.

The Viagra didn’t seem to help Iancol and Shakeitupbetty. They finished fifth in consecutive races at Del Mar, according to DRF, but the $900 in purse earnings still had to be returned.

[ Daily Racing Form]