Downs coach suspended indefinitely – Winnipeg Free Press

Jerry Gourneau, trainer of the five-time Assiniboia Downs season winner, has been suspended indefinitely after three of his horses were found to have levels of an anti-inflammatory substance above the permitted limit.

The three positive tests were for the legal corticosteroid dexamethasone, a drug commonly used in horse racing. However, the levels found in the horses’ bodies after the last races were outside the permitted range.

Gourneau declined to comment, preferring to wait for his official hearing.

The dominoes began to fall for Gourneau when Golden Diversion tested positive after the three-year-old gelding finished third in a race on June 12. That positive test initially resulted in all of Gourneau’s horses being withdrawn from racing on June 18 and 19.

When two more horses tested positive, Gourneau was suspended and ordered to leave the Assiniboia Downs grounds on June 21. The suspension will remain in place pending the results of four more tests and an official hearing with the Liquor, Gaming and Cannabis Authority of Manitoba (LGCA), which regulates horse racing in the province.

Dexamethasone can be administered 48 or more hours before a race, and both Gourneau and Dr. Cyndi Kasper, the veterinarian responsible for administering the drug, said it was given to the affected horses 58 hours before the race.

“I’ve been doing this for 30 years,” Kasper said. “I can say I’ve never had a bad test. I’m out of withdrawal periods. I did everything by the book and since then I’ve done the same with other horses.”

No other horse at the Downs that received the same pre-race treatment with dexamethasone tested positive this year.

Assiniboia Downs CEO Darren Dunn was surprised by the development.

“Jerry has been an important part of our live racing program for years,” Dunn said. “This unexpected situation is not reflective of how he has consistently conducted his activities on our property, especially considering the sheer volume of horses he runs annually.”

Gourneau was previously suspended for two days and fined $1,000 when Witt Sweet Sixteen, owned by Gourneau’s primary owner Henry S. Witt Jr. of Axtell, Texas, tested positive for dexamethasone after a win last June. Similar to the violations this year, that positive test resulted in numerous Gourneau-trained horses being removed from racing.

According to the official Downs rules, a trainer is responsible for the condition and performance of a horse in his care, even if he unknowingly knows that a foreign or prohibited substance has been administered to it.

In other words, Gourneau is ultimately responsible for the positive tests. Since this is the second time he has faced the same violation in two years, he will likely receive a much harsher punishment unless his upcoming hearing before the LGCA proves otherwise.