NEW YORK POST (New York) 06 July 07 Snake Venom Probe Bites Biancone (Ed Fountaine)
Patrick Biancone, one of the world's most successful thoroughbred trainers, is being investigated by the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority for possible drug violations, including snake venom reportedly found in his barn.
But until the investigation is concluded and a ruling is made, Biancone likely will be allowed to stable, train and race a string of horses at Saratoga when the meet opens July 25. Biancone, 55, has been a force at the Old Spa for years, winning stakes with Henny Hughes, Pomeroy, Sense of Style, Whoopi Cat, Whywhywhy and Zavata. In the past three seasons, he saddled 20 winners from 101 starters.
Biancone began his career in his native France, where he won back-to-back runnings of the Arc de Triomphe and the French Derby twice. He moved to Hong Kong in the 1990s but left after being suspended in 1999 for prohibited medications.
This summer, Biancone has taken 26 stalls in a private barn complex adjacent to Saratoga Race Course and requested another six to eight stalls on the grounds of the racetrack, according to NYRA racing secretary P.J. Campo.
The current investigation began on June 22 when KHRA investigators searched Biancone's barns at Keeneland. According to a report in the Daily Racing Form based on an anonymous source, the search was sparked by one of Biancone's horses testing positive for derivatives of caffeine and an inhalant. The source said that during the search, cobra venom in crystalline form - a neurotoxin that can be injected to deaden pain in a horse's feet and legs - was found in a refrigerator in a tack room.
Snake venom is readily available in powder or crystal form to licensed professionals (hospitals, veterinarians, etc.) from the Miami Serpentarium Laboratories in Punta Gorda, Fla., which milks venom from about 200 different species of snakes. It can be ordered over the phone and costs from five cents to $6 a milligram, depending on the species.
Snake venom is prohibited to use on racehorses, classified by the Racing Commissioners International as a Class 1 drug that has no therapeutic value but can affect racing performance. Two trainers at the Saratoga harness track recently pleaded guilty to felony race-fixing charges for injecting a horse with cobra venom last October.
There are no tests available to detect snake venom in horses, according to Dr. George Maylin, who heads New York's equine drug-testing program at Cornell University.
"It's been around for a long time, since the 1970s," Maylin said. "It costs less than $100 to inject a horse a couple of times, but it's not very effective. It's used as a last resort."
Biancone's veterinarian, Dr. Rod Stewart, is also being investigated.
"I've made repeated requests to the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority and have received absolutely no information," Stewart's attorney, Karen Murphy, said. "I'm terribly upset someone at the authority spoke to the press off the record, but they can't seem to get something on a fax machine to me."
"We are well into the investigation, and an initial report has been filed," said Kentucky chief steward John Veitch. "It's not completely compiled yet, and [Murphy] will receive it as soon as it is complete . . . Hopefully sometime next week we'll get the remaining information, figure out what the charges may be, and arrange for hearings to be held."
Snake Venom Probe Bites Biancone