Board Fines Six After Drug Tests : Doping: Results indicate the presence of procaine in horses’ systems after races at Los Alamitos and Bay Meadows.

Six trainers at Los Alamitos and Bay Meadows have been fined $1,000 apiece by the California Horse Racing Board because their horses tested positive for procaine after races late last year.

One Slick One, one of the Los Alamitos horses, tested positive after a second-place finish in the $15,000 Champion of Champions Trial for quarter horses on Dec. 4. One Slick One, who is trained by Russell Harris, qualified for the $250,000 Champion of Champions Stakes and finished fifth in that race two weeks later, earning $12,500.

The ruling against One Slick One disqualified the horse from the Champions of Champions Trial, and the CHRB ordered that the purse be redistributed. The ruling does not affect One Slick One’s fifth-place finish in the Champion of Champions final.

The Los Alamitos rulings were announced Monday. Besides Harris, others fined were quarter horse trainer Frank Monteleone and Lynn Ashby, who trains Arabians.

Three thoroughbred trainers, Abe LaMorte, Rene Amescua and Dent Caton, were fined in rulings issued Saturday by the stewards at Golden Gate Fields, where racing on the Northern California circuit is now being conducted.

Michael Whittingham, a thoroughbred trainer at Santa Anita, was fined $1,000 on Jan. 14 after the state’s testing laboratory reported a procaine positive for a horse who finished second in a race at the Arcadia track in October.

Of the seven positives, the only winning horse was Bryze, who was saddled by Ashby in a maiden race and broke the Los Alamitos record for 5 1/2 furlongs on Dec. 6. Ashby tied for first place in the trainers’ standings for the season that ended in mid-January.

The other Los Alamitos positive was from a race run on Nov. 27. The dates of the three races at Bay Meadows were Dec. 5, 10 and 18. Purse money from all of the races has been ordered to be redistributed.

Procaine is a local anesthetic that can resemble cocaine, but is less toxic. Procaine is frequently found in penicillin compounds and can act as a stimulant when used independently.

On Feb. 5, Robert A. Jack, the racing board’s equine medical director, issued an advisory to trainers regarding procaine.

“The treatment of horses with procaine penicillin . . . may result in the detection of procaine in a post-race test sample for a period in excess of 30 days from administration under current testing methods,” Jack’s notice said. “Trainers are advised not to enter horses which have been so treated in the previous 30 days.”

As a precaution, Jack invited trainers to have their horses’ urine samples tested before entries, usually two days before a race.

“This will allow some assurance that detectable levels of procaine have been eliminated from a horse’s system,” Jack’s notice said.

Jack could not be reached for comment Monday. His notice to trainers also said: “The California Horse Racing Board is presently addressing the issue of residues of therapeutic drugs appearing in post-race urine samples. It is (our) desire to allow horsemen and veterinarians to use the necessary means to maintain the health of the horses in their care, while still maintaining the integrity of the racing industry.”