Quarter Horse purses ordered redistributed as 10 horses test positive for carmoterol

FULL STORY: https://www.drf.com/news/quarter-horse-purses-ordered-redistributed-10-horses-test-positive-carmoterol

More than $1.03 million in purses from five six-figure Quarter Horse stakes run at Los Alamitos from February to September 2024 has been ordered redistributed after 10 runners tested positive for the banned medication carmoterol, according to complaints filed by the California Horse Racing Board on Oct. 9.

The horses involved were trained by Monty Arrossa, who is currently banned from training at Los Alamitos by track management after three horses in his care, the stakes horses American Dreamin, AB Seis Corazones, and Blood Viper, tested positive for carmoterol in five post-race and out-of-competition tests taken last October and November.

Carmoterol, listed as a class 1 medication, is a bronchodilator not permitted to appear in post-race tests.

The medication was present in 12 horses that raced for trainers Heath Taylor and Toby Keeton at The Downs at Albuquerque in September 2024, including Hezgothelook Z, winner of the $3 million All American Futurity. Taylor and Keeton were summarily suspended by New Mexico racing officials in February for the infractions.

The cases have not been adjudicated.

Juan Diaz, a prominent Texas-based Quarter Horse trainer, was summarily suspended by racing officials in that state earlier this year for carmoterol positives in 2024.

California does not have a summary suspension policy.

The complaints announced by the CHRB earlier this month were found in tests taken from BP Cartel Policy and Ready for It, who were first and second in the $174,200 Los Alamitos Winter Derby on Feb. 17, 2024; Southern Divine and Double Down 123, second and third in the $404,000 Los Alamitos Oaks on March 23, 2025; Up to Party and Ultimate Battle, the first two finishers in the $970,000 Ed Burke Million Futurity on June 16, 2024; Party Time Tom and Midnight Moon, who were second and third in the $270,000 Governor’s Cup Futurity on July 27, 2024; and Up to Party and Ultimate Battle, who were first and second in the $275,000 Pacific Coast Quarter Horse Racing Association Breeders’ Futurity on Sept. 15, 2024.

The largest forfeiture is $407,400 earned by Up to Party in the Ed Burke Million Futurity. The smallest is $29,614 earned by Ready for It in the Winter Derby.

Redistribution hearings are scheduled to be held from Oct. 23 to Nov. 20, according to the racing board’s website.

Arrossa appeared before the Los Alamitos stewards in March regarding purse redistributions involving some of his runners that tested positive for carmoterol last November and December.

A few days after that hearing, Los Alamitos stewards disqualified American Dreamin from a first-place finish in the $1.04 million Golden State Million and ordered the winner’s share of $439,656 to be forfeited after the filly tested positive for carmoterol in an out-of-competition test taken on Oct. 20, 15 days after the time trial, as well as on Oct. 27, after the final.

The stewards disqualified AB Seis Corazones from a second-place finish in the $763,000 Los Alamitos Super Derby and ordered $129,710 to be forfeited after he tested positive in a post-race test.

No purse redistributions have taken place as of Tuesday, regarding an out-of-competition test taken on Oct. 20, 2024, from Blood Viper, who later finished fifth in the Golden State Million, and was promoted to fourth following the disqualification of American Dreamin; or the positive taken from American Dreamin after a win in a division of the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity trials on Nov. 24, 2024. American Dreamin later finished fourth in the $1.8 million Two Million Futurity, earning $126,416.

At the time of the positives, AB Seis Corazones, American Dreamin, and Blood Viper were owned by Dunn Ranch of Matt and Bendi Dunn. Dunn Ranch also raced Party Time Tom, Southern Divine, and Up to Party at the time of their positives in 2024.

The other owners with runners involved in the positive tests are Bill Price, Buckway Ranch, Junior’s Quarter Horses, Travis Saxton, and Randy Young. Those owners as well as jockeys Armando Cervantes, James Flores, and Eduardo Nicasio were named in complaints and ordered to forfeit prize money.

The racing board has not taken any official action against Arrossa for the positives detected from October and November of 2024.

Arrossa’s stable was transferred to his longtime assistant Ramiro Castillo in the spring after track management banned him from its property.

Castillo has had a high-profile role at Los Alamitos in recent months, winning the Vessels Maturity in July and the Robert Boniface Los Alamitos Championship on Sunday with Stanley Cartel, the leading contender for the $700,000 Champion of Champions at Los Alamitos on Dec. 13.

Castillo had six winners from 18 runners in time trials for the $1.17 million Golden State Million Futurity on Oct. 5. One of Castillo’s winners, Warm Springs, who qualified for the final, died of a non-musculoskeletal injury after a trial race win, according to the racing board’s website.