Quarter Horse Owner Hubaldo Solis Banned 10 Years Over Repeated Medication Violations

The New Mexico Racing Commission has revoked the license of Quarter Horse owner Hubaldo Solis and barred him from reapplying for 10 years, capping a disciplinary case built on 13 medication violations spanning a decade and a refusal to comply with a regulatory subpoena.

The NMRC held its hearing on charges of "conduct unbecoming and detrimental to the best interest of racing, and an extensive medication record." Beyond the license revocation and 10-year ineligibility period, Solis was fined $20,000. The ruling centers on five out-of-competition albuterol positives in the past two years alone: three in 2025 and two in 2026. Those recent failures sit atop eight earlier positives dating to 2016 that the commission cited in its ruling.

The paper trail across those years is detailed. Trainer Cosme Velazquez was associated with HS Keepanothersecret, which tested positive for albuterol on Aug. 28, 2025. Trainer Armando Alamos handled HS Trigger, which returned a positive for O-desmethyl-cis-tramadol on July 20, 2024. Alfredo Gomez trained HS Hawk, which tested positive for 3-hydroxylidocaine on July 15, 2023. Going further back, trainer Miguel Castillo was issued rulings related to four clenbuterol positives in Solis-owned horses in 2017, and trainer Ronald Stephens faced rulings tied to a clenbuterol positive in a Solis-owned horse in 2016. Each violation carried its own penalty classification under commission rules, ranging from Class 2 Penalty B to Class 3 Penalty A designations. According to the ruling, Solis also failed to comply with a subpoena for documents issued by the NMRC Investigator, a procedural defiance that compounded the case against him.

The Solis ruling lands amid a broader wave of medication enforcement actions touching Quarter Horse and Thoroughbred racing in New Mexico and nationally. Trainer Julian Rey Honesto has been summarily suspended by the NMRC following what is believed to be the first positive test in a United States racehorse for tulobuterol, a long-acting bronchodilator that is not FDA-approved domestically and is classified as a prohibited substance in New Mexico. Tulobuterol stimulates beta-2 adrenoreceptors in a manner similar to clenbuterol and albuterol, and is banned by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, the International Equestrian Federation, and several other international racing jurisdictions.

The significance of bronchodilators in Quarter Horse competition is not incidental. "The use of these substances in Quarter Horse racing has been particularly problematic because the effects on fast-twitch fibers may increase short-term speed," said Dr. Richard Sams, widely recognized as a leader in equine drug testing. Sams also noted that the detection pathway for tulobuterol is well established: "Racing chemists have known about tulobuterol for a long time and have known that it can be detected by the Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry methods commonly used."

Separate HISA and Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit enforcement actions add further context. Hair samples taken by HIWU personnel on Apr. 24 last year from two horses stabled at Westampton Farm in Westampton Township, New Jersey, subsequently tested positive: clenbuterol was detected in the sample from Miss Hard to Get, and albuterol in the sample from Surprise Boss. Under HISA rules, albuterol is permitted only when administered as an inhaled bronchodilator and prescribed by a licensed veterinarian within a valid veterinarian-patient-client relationship. Clenbuterol carries a narrow permitted window of up to 30 days within any six-month period, provided a valid veterinary prescription exists, with the horse placed on the vets' list and barred from working or racing until it tests clear.

Trainer Angel Sanchez-Pinero was also issued an additional combined four-year ban and $50,000 in fines for two out-of-competition positives involving banned substances, layered onto a combined 10-year ban he is already serving for medication violations stemming from 2024 onward. That cumulative 10-year ban started July 24 last year; the new four-year term begins Nov. 25, 2035. Among pending HIWU cases reported this week, trainer Arturo Chavez faces a vets' list medication violation for albuterol detected in a sample from She Mysterious taken Dec. 9, 2025; trainer Carla Gaines faces a diclofenac violation tied to a sample from Royal Rumor taken Feb. 8, 2026; trainer Manuel Badilla faces a phenylbutazone violation from a Coolwind sample taken Feb. 4, 2026; and trainer Isaiah L. Ortiz faces a ketoprofen violation from a Riding By sample also dated Feb. 4, 2026.

Whether Solis will appeal the NMRC ruling has not been reported, and the effective start date of the sanction has not been publicly confirmed. The commission has not released comment on the timeline for any potential appeal proceedings.