Californian trainer Reed Saldana, who was provisionally suspended by the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit earlier this summer for the presence of the banned substance diisopropylamine in the post-race sample of one of his horses, was formally suspended for 24 months and fined $25,000 by an arbitrator earlier this week.
In a decision issued on 4 December, Arbitrator Jeffrey Benz found Saldana responsible for his first anti-doping rule violation under the HIWU and suspended him until 5 August 2025. He also ordered the forfeiture of $4,560 earned by his trainee, 5th Street Stables’ Ice Queen, for finishing third in a starter allowance race at Santa Anita Park on June 16, from which she was eliminated with a positive test. Benz also ordered Saldana to pay $12,000 towards HIWU’s share of arbitration costs.
According to HIWU’s arguments, diisopropylamine is classified as a secondary amine due to its chemical structure, but is also considered a vasodilator due to its general pharmacological effect of causing blood vessels to open or dilate.
Saldana argued that the urine sample taken from the Ice Queen was not collected, stored or transported securely, but Benz found that “there were no irregularities or deviations from the relevant standards or procedures”.
Saldana has raced primarily at Santa Anita Park and Los Alamitos Race Course this year prior to his provisional suspension. He has trained 88 winners from 656 starts in Thoroughbred races and another 17 winners in mixed-breed events.
He served a 30-day suspension in 2021 after one of his horses tested positive for clenbuterol.