N.Y. Racing Board Reverses Lashkari Decision

The New York State Racing and Wagering Board acknowledged Tuesday that it had mistakenly disqualified Lashkari for illegal drug use in the 1985 Breeders’ Cup turf race at Aqueduct.

The board reinstated both the purse and the license to the French horse’s trainer, Alain de Royer Dupre.

Dupre had been banned for life in North America and the horse’s $140,000 fourth-place purse had been reclaimed after the board reported traces of etorphine in the horse’s postrace urine sample. Etorphine, used in small doses, is a powerful stimulant.

Dr. George Maylin, director of the board’s Drug Testing and Research Program at Cornell University, reviewed his original findings and decided that he could “no longer conclude that the drug etorphine was present . . . to a reasonable scientific certainty.”

The review was prompted by a civil suit filed by Dupre and reports from two independent laboratories that conducted negative analyses of the urine sample.