Oaklawn Handicap case going to Pulaski County

WINGS CLIPPED: It’s a Bird, with Julien Leparoux aboard, wins the Grade II $500,000 Oaklawn Handicap by six lengths April 4 at Oaklawn Park but is disqualified and placed last after testing positive for naproxen, a prohibited raceday medication in Arkansas. The attorney for owner Edward Gann and trainer Marty Wolfson said the Arkansas Racing Commission’s decision Tuesday to disqualify the horse, costing Gann the $300,000 winner’s purse, will be appealed. The commission also fined Wolfson $500.

The Arkansas Racing Commission has spoken about the Oaklawn Handicap, but the case is far from closed.

An attorney for Edmund Gann said the owner of It’s a Bird will appeal the ARC’s decision Tuesday to disqualify the horse from his April 4 victory at Oaklawn Park because of a positive drug test.

Lexington, Ky., attorney Mike Meuser said an appeal will be filed in Pulaski County Circuit Court and that Gann and trainer Marty Wolfson, whom he also represents, would seek a court order to stay the commission’s ruling.

After a 90-minute hearing Tuesday in Little...

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July, 2009