Ruidoso Futurity Winner Disqualified, Trainer Suspended After Drug Found
Elans Special, the 2-year-old filly who won last year’s $2.5-million All American Futurity--quarter horse racing’s richest race--at Ruidoso Downs, has been disqualified by the New Mexico State Racing Commission because she ran with an illegal drug in her system.
John Buchanan, the trainer of Elans Special, was given an indefinite suspension by the commission, pending a hearing. Buchanan and 16 other trainers of quarter horses and thoroughbreds in New Mexico were suspended Wednesday, in a crackdown on illegal drugging by authorities that has resulted in the suspension of 31 trainers this month.
A Michigan testing laboratory determined that Elans Special ran in the Futurity with Oxymorphone, a painkiller and a stimulant, in her system. Elans Special also was found to have been treated with Oxymorphone when she ran in the Futurity Trials.
It was not clear whether the $1 million that Elans Special won would have to be returned.
Cool Rainy Night, who finished ninth in the Futurity, also ran with Oxymorphone, according to the lab report.
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