Trainer at center of 'Fair Hill 5' betting scandal suspended following positive drug tests
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One of the trainers involved in the "Fair Hill Five" betting coup scandal has been suspended after two from the group of horses - one of whom ran at Saratoga Race Course, the other at Monmouth Park - allegedly tested positive for a banned substance.
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The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority on Tuesday announced the provisional suspension of trainer Angel Quiroz after the agency disclosed that two of his horses that ran Aug. 9 - Scootaloo and Tepeyac - tested positive for albuterol in tests administered following the race.
"Trainer Angel Quiroz has been served with a Provisional Suspension of his HISA registration effective as of September 1, 2026, while charges against him remain pending," a HISA spokesperson said.
Quiroz is charged with violations of two HISA rules, "Compromising the welfare of Covered Horses for competitive or commercial gain," and "administration of Controlled Medication outside the context of a valid Veterinarian-client patient relationship," according to information available through the agency's rulings portal.
Scootaloo finished fourth in the third race on Aug. 9 at Saratoga. The 5-year-old mare tested positive from a sample taken at Saratoga the following day, according to HISA's suspension notice. Tepeyac, who won at Monmouth Park on Aug. 9, tested positive from a sample collected Aug. 13 at Fair Hill Training Center in Maryland, while all five horses involved in the Aug. 9 races posted workouts in the lead-up to that day.
HISA and HIWU previously announced that a third horse in Quiroz's barn who was not involved in the Aug. 9 races, Bonita Rough, also tested positive for albuterol in late July.
The Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit, which administers HISA's drug testing and enforcement, did not list any pending violations for the other three horses who were identified as part of the potential betting coup. The Great Amira, trained by Quiroz, won at Monmouth Park, while M Bs Melanie Cares and Classic Rock won that day at Saratoga for trainer and owner Ernesto Ochoa, though Thoroughbred Daily News reported that Quiroz said he previously trained both of those horses before they were sold to Ochoa.
In the days following the race, reporting emerged that a sequence of winning bets were placed with British bookmakers on the races, which resulted in those betting houses taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses.
The results on Aug. 9 and surprisingly small payouts on multi-race wagers raised online speculation from handicappers and racing media figures that something was amiss. The horses involved were all coming off lengthy layoffs between four and nine months, were previously based at Florida's Gulfstream Park before recording their most recent workouts at Fair Hill, and had little in their recent racing record to suggest the impressive winning performances that four of the horses produced.
Multiple racing authorities are investigating the incident. Following the rampant speculation around the Aug. 9 results at Saratoga, the New York Racing Association referred the situation to HISA and HIWU, which are predominantly concerned with horse and racetrack safety, as well as drug enforcement, and the Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau, an investigative agency that monitors race fixing and other issues of racing integrity.
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There’s more to Albany with the Times Union. Subscribe today for just 25¢.This article originally published at Trainer at center of 'Fair Hill 5' betting scandal suspended following positive drug tests.