HISA roundup details trainer penalties, suspensions, and race disqualifications

Isidro Tamayo faces a seven-day period of ineligibility beginning April 8, 2026, after a methocarbamol positive in Ballyvaughan Gig’s specimen from Del Mar’s Aug. 14, 2025 Race 5, a turf allowance/optional claiming sprint with an $81,000 purse. HIWU’s cases portal records the Tamayo matter as resolved by “Admission of ECM Rule Violation and Acceptance of Consequences,” with a controlled date of resolution of April 7, 2026, and lists a $1,000 fine, 1.5 penalty points, and the automatic disqualification and forfeiture of purses, trophies and points tied to the Aug. 14, 2025 result; Ruben Silvera is listed as the jockey on the original result.

Belmont Stakes-winning trainer Jenna Antonucci received a 15-day ineligibility order effective April 2, 2026, plus a $1,000 fine and two penalty points tied to a lidocaine finding in Bee a Queen after the June 14, 2025 Gulfstream Park win; the Federal Trade Commission’s Office of Administrative Law Judges granted Antonucci’s application for a stay on April 2, 2026, and the stay record is marked “Case stayed.” The FTC order spells out sanctions covering April 2 to April 16, 2026, automatic disqualification of the June 14, 2025 purse and public disclosure, and confirms HISA consented to a stay while the matter proceeds to Administrative Law Judge Jay L. Himes. Bee a Queen’s blood serum registered 0.119 ng/ml of 3-hydroxylidocaine, and Antonucci has argued the trace finding resulted from inadvertent contamination by a racing support staff member who used an over-the-counter product identified as "Healthwise 4% Lidocaine topical cream," a scenario HISA described as providing a “colorable” ground for appeal when it did not oppose the stay.

The Apr. 2–8 enforcement digest also records multiple other resolved ADMC violations with concrete race and sample dates. Trainer Susan L. Crowell was assessed a $500 fine and 1.5 penalty points for phenylbutazone (Class C) in America’s Honor, from a sample taken March 8, 2026. Daniel H. Dennison was listed for disqualifications tied to dexamethasone in Angel Wings, which finished fourth at Mahoning Valley on Feb. 9, 2026, and for furosemide detected in Garavani, the Turf Paradise winner on Jan. 28, 2026. HIWU’s portal also shows trainer Peter Miller received a written reprimand under 9/26/23 HISA guidance after omeprazole was found in Itzel following the March 4, 2026 event.

The compilation of these rulings, packaged in the weekly national rulings digest for Apr. 2-8, pulled from HISA’s rulings portal and HIWU’s pending and resolved cases portals to consolidate enforcement outcomes that alter official records and purse distributions. HIWU’s Internal Adjudication Panel framework remains central to the decisions listed, with IAP members appointed by mutual agreement of HISA and HIWU for four-year terms as independent contractors, a procedural detail that appears across several resolved matters and stays.

For owners, trainers and wagering interests the immediate consequences are tangible: purse forfeiture and altered placements in races such as Del Mar’s Aug. 14, 2025 Race 5 and Gulfstream Park’s June 14, 2025 card, plus accruing penalty points that affect license eligibility. With the Antonucci stay now assigned to ALJ Jay L. Himes and Tamayo’s resolution entered April 7, 2026, HISA and HIWU enforcement will continue to reshape official results and credentialing through the 2026 season.