HIWU Suspends Jonathan Wong Two Years; Trainer Has Horse Entered Tuesday At Fair Grounds

The Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit has issued a two-year suspension and $25,000 fine to trainer Jonathan Wong over his trainee Heaven and Earth's positive test for the banned substance metformin, according to notice posted on the HIWU website Monday.

However, Wong has a horse entered to run on Tuesday at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans, La. Desoto's War is entered in Tuesday's third race.

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority does not have jurisdiction in Louisiana, as a result of a court case that gave Louisiana and West Virginia a temporary reprieve (pending final disposition) from HISA rule. Thus, Wong's HIWU suspension does not disallow him from racing in either state.

Tonya Abeln, vice president of communications for Churchill Downs, Inc., which owns Fair Grounds, told the Paulick Report that Wong's training license is in good standing with the Louisiana Racing Commission.

Ablen said: "Due to his summary suspension from HIWU, and although he is considered in good standing by the Louisiana Racing Commission, Mr. Wong is not currently allocated stalls at Fair Grounds or other CDI-owned racetracks by enforcement of private property rights."

Wong's Fair Grounds entrant Desoto's War had a published workout listed at the Copper Crowne training center in Opelousas, La., on Feb. 6. 

If Desoto's War runs, it will be the first horse Wong has sent out since July 1, 2023. The arbitrator's report indicates that Wong was required to divest his entire 150-horse stable because of his provisional suspension.

Wong's provisional suspension for the metformin positive was imposed on July 2, 2023, one day after he was notified that Heaven and Earth returned an adverse analytical finding for metformin after winning a maiden special weight race at Horseshoe Indianapolis on June 1, 2023.

Metformin is an FDA approved drug for humans but not for horses, though it is used to treat equine metabolic syndrome, a disorder associated with an inability to regulate blood insulin levels.

According to the arbitration report published on the HIWU website, Wong's provisional suspension was lifted on July 28, pending a B sample confirmation, pursuant to changes to the Anti-Doping and Medication Control program. 

The B sample also returned a positive finding for metformin, and Wong's provisional suspension was reinstated on Aug. 10, 2023.

In a hearing held on Jan. 9 and 10, Wong and his attorneys contended that the sample testing methods violated ADMC rules. Among the complaints were the failure to use internal standards, use of two instead of three ion transitions, failure in the aliquot procedure, gaps in the chain of custody.

However, the arbitrator dismissed all of these complaints because there was no evidence, "on a balance of probabilities," that any of the above complaints could have caused an adverse analytical finding.

In addition, the arbitrator wrote: "Throughout the hearing, in a variety of ways, Mr. Wong has attempted to impose a quantitative testing obligation to try to require measurement of what is indisputably a non-threshold substance," meaning any presence of metformin is reported as an adverse analytical finding and does not require quantification.

The arbitrator also found Wong's credibility to be lacking, because the trainer originally told the Paulick Report he may have been the source of the metformin positive, stating he had been prescribed metformin in 2022. He later claimed he'd never spoken to publisher Ray Paulick, who wrote the article quoting Wong.

"Mr. Wong has been untruthful in this proceeding," wrote the arbitrator. "He has stated that he never even spoke to Paulick. This is a demonstrably false statement. As a result of this testimony, together with other parts of his testimony, I find Mr. Wong’s credibility greatly diminished."

Wong's primary defense appeared to arise four days before the hearing, when he and his attorneys entered groom Luis Perez on the witness list.

Perez worked as a groom for Wong since 2022, and was responsible for Heaven and Earth for seven months prior to her positive test, but disappeared and returned to Mexico on July 15, 2023.

The arbitrator's report details: "In December of 2023, Mr. Wong was contacted by a former colleague, Artruro Cortez (“Cortez”). Cortez told Mr. Wong that while he was in Mexico, by happenstance, he had run into Perez. The two got to talking and Cortez mentioned that no one knew why Perez had left in July so abruptly. Cortez told Mr. Wong that Perez told him that he had fled because he was worried that he may have been the cause of the positive finding in Heaven and Earth’s blood and urine. He elaborated that he was taking Metformin for a diabetic condition. Mr. Wong had not had any contact with Perez since the time of the suspension despite his efforts to reach him."

Ultimately, the arbitrator rejected Perez's testimony, calling it an "eleventh hour disclosure" that was "without any credibility."

The arbitrator ultimately concludes:

"HIWU has had to engage in efforts akin to a game of 'whack a mole,' retaining one expert after another to respond to the ever changing field of play due to Mr. Wong’s evolving factual explanation as to how the Metformin got into Heaven and Earth. Perez was supposedly the groom who was inseparable from Heaven and Earth up to and including race day. Yet, I find that Mr. Wong did not expend any effort to find and contact the groom who should have been the most important witness if Perez is telling the truth. In having to retool its case mere days before the evidentiary hearing, HIWU has been put to a great deal of needless time and expense, which includes not only its internal expenses but arbitral expenses; much of this was avoidable with any reasonable effort by Mr. Wong."

The arbitrator's final decision was that Wong should be suspended the full period of two years, fined $25,000, and be required to pay $8,000 of HIWU's arbitration cost (in addition to his own half of the fee), as well as forfeiting Heaven and Earth's earnings of $21,600. 

Wong is appealing the sanctions, according to a report in Thoroughbred Daily News.

The full arbitration report is available here.