Sanchez, Ellis Suspended After Quarter Horses Test Positive for Banned Drugs

Noe R. Sanchez received a six-month suspension beginning Jan. 21, 2026 after his filly Different Corona tested positive for zilpaterol and promazine sulfoxide and was disqualified from the fourth race at Evangeline Downs on Dec. 18, 2025. Different Corona’s positive returned a Class 2 finding for zilpaterol and a metabolite tied to acepromazine. Sanchez, whose career began in 2011, is credited with 139 Quarter-Horse winners by Equibase.

Trey Ellis was suspended for 60 days by the Louisiana State Racing Commission after his gelding Strike Zone NR tested positive for boldenone following a maiden claiming victory at Louisiana Downs on Jan. 13, 2026. Strike Zone NR’s Jan. 13 win was disqualified and Ellis’s suspension runs Feb. 18, 2026 through April 18, 2026.

The ARCI classifications cited in the rulings underscore the severity of the findings. The commission’s summaries quote acepromazine as a Class 3 drug which "may or may not have a generally accepted medical use in the racing horse, but the pharmacology of which suggests less potential to affect performance than drugs in Class 2." Zilpaterol is quoted as a Class 2 drug with "a high potential to affect performance." Boldenone is identified in the rulings as an anabolic-androgenic steroid and a Class 3 substance.

These two penalties arrive amid a wider enforcement sweep in Louisiana Quarter-Horse racing. Paulick Report and industry accounts describe a cluster of zilpaterol positives that officials have called a "rash", one item reported that "Since February of this year, a total of 21 trainers have gotten 49 positives for the substance." Stewards initially imposed six-month suspensions for zilpaterol positives and, at a later commission meeting, commissioners voted on April 26 to double those penalties to one year for each positive. At the same time the Louisiana Quarter Horse Breeders Association announced a one-year suspension for Jeremy Derozin after split-sample testing found carmoterol in two horses; Derozin’s horses were placed on the vet list and two entrants were denied spots in the $597,622 Lee Berwick Futurity.

Lab sequencing in related cases illustrates how split-sample protocols shifted outcomes. Four Futurity tests were first sent to LSU’s Equine Medication Surveillance Laboratory and cleared; split samples later sent to an independent lab contracted by the LQHBA returned two zilpaterol positives and a probable arsenic positive that a third lab later confirmed. Those independent-lab results were sent to the commission "around Jan. 25" and disclosed to the LQHBA the following day. A person identified only as Salard said they were "surprised by the findings."

The American Quarter Horse Association has also moved decisively, suspending trainers and warning that suspended individuals’ horses will be ineligible for AQHA points and honors. Don Treadway, AQHA executive vice president, said: "The vast majority of our members love and enjoy spending time with their horses. They want the drug issue cleaned up, and AQHA is dedicated to using the resources we have available to make sure this happens."

With Sanchez’s ban running through July 20, 2026 and Ellis’s through April 18, 2026, Louisiana stewards and commissioners appear to be enforcing a stricter standard that has already removed wins, reshuffled futurity lineups, and placed multiple trainers under extended scrutiny. Further hearings are scheduled and commissioners have signaled more cases will be heard in the coming months, keeping medication enforcement at the center of Louisiana Quarter-Horse racing.