3 minute read

Eight months after the race the powers that be have disqualified Forte for his win.

A small amount (500 picograms) of meloxicam, which is approved in the US for treatment of horses in training, was found in his sample.   This according to one expert could be due to "environmental contamination".  The same expert also said that anything below 1500 picograms should not be described as a positive.

Trainer Todd Pletcher says that Forte arrived in his barn on 25 March 2022 and was never given meloxicam.

The Hopeful was run on 5 September 2022.  After being notified of the positive sample connections asked for details of the labs that could do the two-sample testing and it took the Gaming Commission 4 months to supply this information.

There was finally a hearing on Wednesday (10 May) some eight months after the race.  Naturally the Forte team tore into the Gaming Commission's handling of the case.