Horse trainer Todd Pletcher was suspended for 10 days and fined $1,000 due to a positive drug test performed on Forte, the Kentucky Derby morning favorite who suffered an injury just hours before the race.
Forte crossed the finish line first in the Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga on September 5, but was disqualified after testing positive for meloxicam.
Forte owners Mike Repole and Vincent Viola will also lose their $165,000 in profit.
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Forte, with Irad Ortiz aboard, wins the G1 Breeders’ Cup Junior for trainer Todd Pletcher at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky. (Horse Photos/Getty Images)
Pletcher has appealed the suspension, allowing him to work before the Preakness Stakes on May 20.
Forte was ruled out of the Derby with a foot injury and will not race next Saturday at Baltimore. However, his injury was far from the biggest controversy on the race track that week.
Todd Pletcher, trainer of Charge It, Pioneer of Medina and Mo Donegal during morning practice for the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on April 30, 2022, in Louisville, Kentucky. (Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
MAGE WINS 149TH KENTUCKY DERBY
Prior to the race, seven horses died of multiple causes. One of them was supposed to run in the Derby, and two of them died on the pre-race undercard.
Pletcher was inducted into the America’s Racing Hall of Fame in 2021.
Trainer Todd Pletcher watches as Forte (15) works out on the back at Churchill Downs early in the morning before the 149th running of the Kentucky Derby on May 6, 2023, at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. (Jeff Moreland/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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The 55-year-old has five Triple Crown race victories, including two in 2017 with Always Dreaming winning the Derby and Tapwrite taking home the Belmont.
Associated Press contributed to this report.