ROUNDUP : CHRB Dismisses Charges Against Gary Jones

California Horse Racing Board stewards have dismissed charges against trainer Gary Jones, who raced a horse that tested positive for a prohibited medication at Hollywood Park on June 7.

After Made Of Jade won the race for Jones, the horse tested positive for phenylpropanolamine, which is a banned decongestant. After a hearing, the stewards ruled that a food supplement that had been given to Made Of Jade was accidentally contaminated.

The dismissal of charges against Jones does not change another ruling by the stewards, who disqualified Made Of Jade and took away the winner’s purse of $7,700. Made Of Jade was also owned by Jones.

Horse Racing Notes

Anchor, winning his third race in a row and seventh of 13 starts overall, was a two-length winner in Friday’s Fleet Host Handicap at Santa Anita as only three of the five starters finished the race. River Flyer, the even-money favorite, and Scheimer were both taken off the track by van. Scheimer was pulled up going down the backstretch and River Flyer, despite racing with Lasix, bled from the mouth and was pulled up in the stretch. Flying Marfa finished second and Slew Of Damascus, the 1994 Hollywood Gold Cup winner who has won only one of nine races this year, ran third.

Kent Desormeaux’s three-day suspension is on hold after he received a court stay. The suspension was to have started Thursday. Desormeaux, who has won five races in the California Cup series, will miss the nine cup races today because he’ll be at Churchill Downs to ride Lakeway in the Budweiser Breeders’ Cup Stakes. . . . Best Pal, who won the Cal Cup Classic in 1993 after being upset by Charmonnier two years before, is the 125-pound high weight in today’s $250,000 race. One of his opponents is Flying Sensation, who hasn’t won since since the Cal Cup Juvenile in 1993. Flying Sensation, second or third 10 times, has earned $346,948 even though he has won only one of 17 starts.