Clenbuterol Scandal Grows as Free House Is Singled Out

Free House, winner of last year’s Santa Anita Derby and a factor in all three Triple Crown races after that, has tested positive for the prohibited substance clenbuterol, according to a report by the Daily Racing Form.

Trudy McCaffery and John Toffan, the owners of Free House, couldn’t be reached for comment Sunday, but the Racing Form said that the positive came after the colt’s win on July 11 in the Bel Air Handicap at Hollywood Park.

Paco Gonzalez, who trains Free House, was quoted as saying that his horses aren’t treated with clenbuterol, a bronchodilator that is permitted for training but not for racing.

The California Horse Racing Board said last week that in May, June and July there were 20 positive tests for clenbuterol after races at Hollywood, Golden Gate Fields and the Cal-Expo harness track in Sacramento. The racing board is in the process of filing accusations against seven trainers, who will receive hearings.

The report about Free House said that the result of the split-sample urine test after the Bel-Air hasn’t come back from a second laboratory. Under California regulations, a second lab must confirm the presence of a prohibited drug before prosecution is considered. A positive from the state lab and a negative from a second lab constitute a non-positive in California.

First place in the Bel Air was worth $63,600. Free House is one of the contenders expected to run in the $1-million Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Aug. 15. Last year, after winning the Santa Anita Derby, Free House was third in the Kentucky Derby, second in the Preakness and third in the Belmont Stakes. He won the Swaps at Hollywood Park, was third in the Haskell Handicap at Monmouth Park and then bled badly from the lungs while running last in the Super Derby at Louisiana Downs in September. He didn’t run again until his win in the Bel-Air.

Gonzalez said recently that he underestimated the heat and humidity that Free House faced in the Super Derby. He said that in retrospect he should have ordered a larger dose of Lasix before the race. Free House routinely runs with Lasix, the diuretic that discourages pulmonary bleeding in horses.