Trainer Says Polygraph Will Prove Innocence in Drugging
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Ralph Shamas, who is representing trainer Bruce Jackson in his appeal of a suspension for drugging a quarter horse in New Mexico, said Wednesday he will present two arguments when the case comes before the State Racing Commission there. Jackson currently has a string of horses at Santa Anita.
“Bruce saddled the horse the day he ran,” Shamas said. “But when the horse was sent from California to Ruidoso Downs before the race, he was in the care of another trainer.”
Shamas identified the trainer as Leon Bard.
“Of the 17 trainers that have been suspended in New Mexico recently, Bruce is the only one who submitted to a polygraph test,” Shamas said. “And he passed the test, which included a question about the drug that was found in the horse. He answered that he had never heard of the drug.”
The Jackson horse, Blushing Bug, finished fourth in a race last August and was found to have a powerful stimulant, buprenorphine, in his system.
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