Oaklawn does its due diligence for the sport

It was late in the week of the Arkansas Derby, a festive time in thoroughbred racing with much of the country’s racing eyes about to be on Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort in Hot Springs.

To the naked eye, it seemed like a normal week until a routine review revealed trainer Robertino Diodoro had a banned substance in his barn.

Diodoro was Oaklawn’s leading trainer the year before, but he had been on probation entering the meet.

This latest substance, levothyrozine, is unacceptable anywhere in racing. When Oaklawn owner and CEO Louis Cella got word he did all the protocols, including calling the Arkansas racing commissioners and Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, commonly known as HISA.

Then Cella immediately made the decision to protect the integrity of his track and not only banned Diodoro for two years but gave him 24 hours to get his entire operation off the grounds.

Diodoro had a horse entered to run on Derby Day. He was scratched and was last seen leaving town.

In a sport where integrity is often questioned, the Cellas have been industry leaders.

For example, Oaklawn has a whistleblower program. If someone suspects wrongdoing, there are a handful of trusted Oaklawn personnel who will take the allegations and have them thoroughly investigated while keeping the whistleblower out of the mix.

HISA was started in 2022 after Congress passed legislation to protect thoroughbreds.

Under HISA’s supervision is the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU). It is the enforcement arm and also does barn inspections to ensure banned substances are not being used.

Those are not government bodies, but independent organization who are supported by every race track in the country except Texas and Louisiana, which sued to not be under anyone’s umbrella but their own.

Louisiana got a restraining order.

Texas won its suit, or thinks it did. Tracks in Texas are no longer allowed to be part of the simulcasting that brings in millions of dollars a year.

HIWU gave Diodoro a provisional suspension in that he can train, but he’s not allowed to go to the paddock or saddle horses.

So the latest on Diodoro is has entered a horse to run at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Texas, on April 18.

Amy Cook, executive director of the Texas Racing Commission, wrote in an email to Bloodhorse magazine that, “We do not honor (HIWU) rulings based on the Texas Racing Act statutory conflict currently in litigation.”

Diodoro owns the horse Master of Disguise (seriously, you can’t make that up), which ran three times at Oaklawn and placed all three times.

Diodoro has been training since 1995.

He has more than 2,500 wins and has amassed almost $68 million in purses.

He started with two leased horses running at tracks that closed 30 years ago, but at one time he had more than 125 horses in training, mostly at Midwestern tracks.

Diodoro had 61 wins at Oaklawn last season to knock off usual leading trainer Steve Asmussen for top dog honors. But in late April he ran Aristocray, his only race as the trainer, and the horse tested positive for a banned substance and he received a $1,000 fine and a 15-day suspension this season. He denied any wrongdoing. On Saturday, Oaklawn was alive and vibrant again. A big crowd came out for the weekly spring fling and that included the $500,000 Count Fleet Handicap and the $1.25 million Apple Blossom.

Robert Diodoro, who has trained for some great owners, was down in Texas waiting to see if they would really let him saddle his own horse in only one of two states where he can train.