Patrick Biancone's third violation of Thoroughbred training rules that ban certain injectable solutions, medications, and drugs sidelines his career again.
Nasty. This drug problem we have everywhere. Nastier yet is the flagrance with which violations occur.
Thoroughbred trainer Patrick Biancone claims to know nothing about the presence of Alpha-Cobratoxin (a nerve-blocking agent concocted from snake venom), medications (mostly vaccines), and injectable solutions that were found in a tack room refrigerator in his barn at Keeneland Race Course last June 22.
Kentucky stewards have suspended Biancone for one year.
This is Biancone's third run-in with authorities over banned substances. While training in Hong Kong, he was reprimanded twice over positive drug tests. After the suspension was handed out in 2000, Biancone packed his bags and arrived in the United States.
Did he know about the cobra venom in his barn at Keeneland? I don't know. But I do know this: if I were in the privileged and responsible position of horse trainer, I would want to know at all times what was and what was not in my barn.
How did the stuff get in his barn? Was it planted by someone who has a grudge? Why did his veterinarian have it on hand? Okay, and never mind. If Biancone had taken seriously the Hong Kong charges in 1997 and in 2000, wouldn't he want to know at all times what was in his barn? Why wasn't Biancone looking closer at what might be lurking in the tack room refrigerator? Scrutiny should have become his companion.
Instead of straight-faced denial now, he should have erred on the side of caution when he brought his talents to American tracks.
