Trainer Blames Alleged Doping on Dreamers : Schvaneveldt: Some Believe That Drugs Can Make a Bad Horse Run Good

Blane Schvaneveldt doesn’t like to talk.

And when the all-time winning quarter horse trainer at Los Alamitos Race Course does speak, he usually doesn’t say much.

Schvaneveldt’s words are usually bunched in track phrases, such as:

“She broke real good.”

Therefore, it was surprising how much Schvaneveldt had to say about the recent suspensions of seven trainers in connection with alleged horse doping at Los Alamitos. The suspensions have the stable personnel in a cautious mood these days.

“I think those boys still believe in Santa Claus,” Schvaneveldt said. “They think they can make a bad horse run fast with drugs. They’re dreamers.”

For Schvaneveldt, that was a dissertation.

But Schvaneveldt and fellow trainers currently are involved in a war of words to protect the reputation of quarter horse racing.

“This kind of thing just confirms a lot of the bad ideas people have about horse racing,” said Steve Rothblum, one of seven trainers suspended by the Los Alamitos Board of Stewards in the past week. Rothblum and trainer Alvin Caddin have received stays on their respective 90- and 180-day suspensions until an appeal of their cases can be heard before the California Horse Racing Board.

If there is one concern people have for the scandal, it’s that it’s bad for racing. Jockeys, trainers, front office types, fans, all say it’s the kind of attention the sport and track don’t need.

“People think horse racing is fixed,” Rothblum said. “They hear about dopings and feel they’ve proven their point.”

If Rothblum is looking for disapproving faces, he doesn’t have to go any further than the Los Alamitos barn area. The stables are a tense place today. Trainers with 30 and 40 horses at the track’s stables, such as Schvaneveldt and Russell Harris, believe their reputations have been tainted by trainers with much smaller barns.

“These guys are small-time operators,” Harris said. “They’re desperate. They’ll try anything to get ahead or just stay in step with the big boys.”

Lee Gladd, one of the small operators but one who’s winning a phenomenal 34% of his races, says he’s felt the added pressure in the barns.

“People are looking sideways at each other in the barns,” Gladd said. “I guess the people who really have to worry are the ones who are doing something wrong.”

Outspoken on what action should be taken against the trainers, Harris has suggested that 90-day suspensions aren’t enough. If it were up to him, the trainers would be suspended for life.

“While I was walking around the stables, I noticed a lot of people staring at me,” said Ed Stetson, CHRB investigator. “They knew I was an investigator, and I had a lot of eyes follow me around the barns. I guess they were wondering who would be next.”

It started July 8 when Leroy McKellips, who had done most of his racing in Colorado, had his temporary trainer’s license revoked and his owner’s license suspended for a year when his horse tested positively for the narcotic hydromorphone.

The next day, Ronald D. Jackson received a 90-day suspension and $1,000 fine. Hydromorphone had also been found in his horse.

Rothblum and Caddin got theirs July 10. Hydromorphone was the discovered in urine samples of their horses as well.

Monday, Allen T. Millenheft, John Smith and Tom Tarwater were each suspended 90 days and fined $1,000 when their horses tested positively for hydromorphone.

A morphine derivative, hydromorphone is a stimulant that relieves pain. It would be an ideal drug to give an injured horse.

The stewards haven’t accused the trainers of doping their horses. They were suspended under the trainers insurer rule, which states a trainer is responsible for the safety and well-being of his horse. In other words, they’re not interested how the drug got there, just that it’s there.

“People don’t understand that,” Rothblum said. “People pick up the paper and see my name connected with horse doping and they think I’m shooting up horses. They never accused me of that. I’m just responsible for the protection of my horse.”

Rothblum, the 12th all-time winning trainer at Los Alamitos, will appeal his case under CHRB rule 1888 (c), that releases a trainer from his responsibility if he has taken every measure to ensure the safety of his horse.

“He’ll have to prove that the horses were attended to,” Stetson said. “To take all precautions, the horses would have to be attended around the clock.”

But Rothblum claims there are no facilities in his small barn area to house overnight attendants.

“He acted as prudently as possible in the treatment of his horses,” said Don Teague, Rothblum’s attorney.

Teague suggests that a third party was involved in the druggings.

“I think it’s pretty suspicious that all these druggings showed up on one day (June 27),” Teague said. “And that the tests all showed the same drug. It sounds to me like someone went through the barns doping up horses.”

Stetson said the CHRB will continue to investigate at Los Alamitos, following the numerous rumors that come through the Sacramento office.

A Week of Suspensions

Trainer Date Leroy McKellips July 8 Ron Jackson July 9 Steve Rothblum July 10 Alvin Caddin July 10 Allen Millenheft July 12 John Smith July 12 Tom Tarwater July 12

Trainer Suspension Leroy McKellips Temporary license revoked, owner’s license suspended for a year. Ron Jackson 90-day suspension, $1,000 fine. Steve Rothblum 90-day suspension, $1,000 fine. (Case on appeal) Alvin Caddin 180-day suspension, $1,500 fine. (Case on appeal) Allen Millenheft 90-day suspension, $1,000 fine. John Smith 90-day suspension, $1,000 fine. Tom Tarwater 90-day suspension, $1,000 fine.

NOTE: Hydromorphone, the substance found in the urine samples in all the above cases, is a derivitive of morphine. The drug can help relieve pain.