Trainer Jose Corrales asked the Federal Commission for stability of the two-year suspension handed to him on Oct. 2 by the Horse Integrity & Health Unit (HIWU) violated the drug, stating that he will suffer irreparable damage and that he would not be able to participate on Oct. 24. 24 Maryland Million would be “disastrous” for him and some of his owners. Corrales has appealed the sanctions, which include a $10,000 fine, to the FTC while seeking an evidentiary hearing. The FTC is the federal agency that oversees the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA), which regulates the national horse racing circuit.
HIWU, the enforcement arm of HISA, suspended a 66-year-old Maryland rider for violating the Anti-Doping and Medication Program after one of his horses, Spirit Curlene, tested positive for the banned substance nikethamide following Feb. 20. victory at Laurel Park. Nikethamide was a stimulant once used in human medicine to help stimulate breathing, although it has largely fallen out of use as safer and more effective treatments have become available. HISA in horse racing means it is a prohibited substance, that is, it is prohibited at all times.
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Corrales and his wife, Jovlyn Castro, who operated the stable, both died on Sept. 22. The arbitrators insisted to the audience that they had not administered the drug to the Spirit of Curlene, but they could do little more than speculate that it had resulted in a positive test for infection. The HISA arbitrator wrote in his final decision requesting a two-year ban that “speculation is not proof.”
In the appeal and request for a stay filed by Corrales, the trainer intends to present new evidence that the positive test result comes from a vitamin B3 supplement “or a plant of the Corydal family” – which he said could have a trace of the sum of niketheamide or its metabolite, N-Ethylnicotinamide. The complaint filed with the FTC stated that Corrales “was used in a feed supplement known as Red Cell that contained, among other things, Niacin (Vitamin B3).”
The appeal by Corrales also cites the 2025 University of Kentucky Publication, which found “identifiable levels” of N-Ethylnicotinamide in clusterworms that were associated with vitamin B3 supplementation.
According to the final decision of the HISA arbitrator, however, no banned substance was detected when officers found food and supplies at the Corrales stable when they searched the warehouse.
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In a request for a firm two-year ban, pending an appeal, Corrales’ representatives said “it has suffered financially, professionally and emotionally already having to deal with this career-ending sanction”. Calling the Maryland Million day “the most important day of the year for Maryland trainers and owners”, the request states that Corrales “will be present on that day for himself and the owners of the horses for races with purses over a million talents. Being absent on that day will not only be detrimental to Mr. Corrales but to the owners of the horses who are not in those races. Finding the trainer of the horses in a short period of time is not possible.”
Since that appeal was filed on October 7, most of the Corrales stable has turned to Joe Murphy, who has returned to training after a nine-year hiatus.
Lawyers for HISA and HIWU filed responses opposing Corrales’ application for a stay and review of the cases when a new evidentiary hearing was held.
This story was first published by Paulick Report on the 15th of October News section Add the Paulck Report as Preferred Source by clicking here.