Kentucky managers suspended trainers Norman “Lynn” Cash and Jeff Greenhill for 20 days each and fined them $500 each after the horses they trained tested positive for narcotics. A is commonly used in humans.
Cash Trained and Co-Owned Matt’s Honey tested positive for methamphetamine after finishing third in the third race at Churchill Downs November 5, 2021, while Greenhill is training De Bolt Light owned by the Ronald B. DeWolf Trust, showed the presence of desmethylvenlafaxine in her urine after finishing fifth in the third race at Lawn Park January 15. Both horses were disqualified and the claim for De Bolt Light was dropped.
Desmethylvenlafaxine is a commonly prescribed antidepressant, and methamphetamine, or meth, is an illegal stimulant that has contributed to widespread drug abuse problems.
Greenhill said he believes his horse’s test results are positive for contamination. He also expressed disappointment that the small extent to which the drug was detected, noting in the separated sample it was registered as 7 nanograms or seven billionths of a gram.
Class A violations are usually reserved for performance-altering drugs, although occasionally, more benign, more difficult-to-classify drugs fall into that category.
“The case was clear – I didn’t do it,” he said. “The incident was also very clear that it would not affect the horse in any way.”
Cash could not be reached for comment.
