Wed Jun 25 14:56:17 2008

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Dutrow suspended for positive test on horse

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Lexington, KY (Sports Network) - Kentucky Derby winning trainer Rick Dutrow, Jr. has been suspended due to a horse that he trains tested positive for twice the allowable level of Clenbuterol.

Salute the Count, who had taken second place in a $100,000 stakes race at Churchill Downs the day before Big Brown won the Kentucky Derby, tested positive for twice the allowable level of the drug, which helps burn fat and promote muscle growth.

The Kentucky Horse Racing Authority issued the ruling Wednesday. Dutrow faces a possible suspension of 15 days and the horse's owner will have to return the $20,000 in purse earnings.

Dutrow has notified the authority that he is appealling the penalty.

Clenbuterol is an approved medication in horses. The bronchodilator increases lung capacity, though it also has steroidal properties. It is illegal to administer it on race day, but states vary on the length of time beforehand that it can be administered. In New York, for example, it cannot be administered within 96 hours of race day while in Kentucky it cannot be administered within 72 hours.

Dutrow has been fined or suspended at least once every year since 2000 for medication violations. He served a 60-day suspension in 2005 after two of his horses tested positive for banned substances and for claiming a violation.