Trainer Cole Norman has been suspended from racing at California tracks for a
year after one of his horses exceeded the total carbon dioxide in plasma (TCO2)
level permitted at California tracks, the TCO2 Testing Review Committee has
announced.
The five-year-old TOP COMMANDER (Kingmambo) ran in the Bing Crosby H. (G1) on
July 31, where he finished fifth by 5 1/2 lengths. Results from his pre-race
blood sample analyzed at the Maddy Laboratory at the University of California at
Davis were found to have matched or exceeded the 37mml/l threshold agreed upon by
the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, the Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC) and
the California Thoroughbred Trainers (CTT).
Norman can still ask for permission to run his horses in California during
the year suspension and an entry submitted following the request may only be
accepted with prior approval of the CTT, TOC and any other racing association or
fair where such permission has been sought. If the conditioner is allowed to run
a horse, he will have to submit to any security procedures deemed appropriate by
the racing association and be responsible for the costs incurred by those
security measures.