A.C. AVILA SANCTIONED

A day after the California Horse Racing Board announced sanctions against him, trainer A.C. Avila was defiant in victory Feb. 28 at Santa Anita Park, when the horse that has been at the center of the controversy claimed an impressive win.

Masochistic, the horse who tested in excess of the allowed amount of the tranquilizer acepromazine when he debuted at Santa Anita last March—inspiring the CHRB to impose a 60-day suspension and $10,000 fine on Avila Feb. 27—put down eye-catching fractions to win a 6 1/2-furlong allowance optional claiming race Saturday (VIDEO). The son of Sought After, owned by Los Pollos Hermanos Racing and Santa Ines Stable, led from gate to wire and covered the distance in 1:14.94 after fractions of :21.46 for the opening quarter-mile, :43.93 for a half-mile, and 1:08.34 for six furlongs.

After finishing fifth in his debut, Masochistic blew away a maiden special weight field by 14 lengths at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby day last year, and went off at odds of 2-1, which drew accusations of a potential betting coup.

After the race Saturday, Avila said he plans to appeal the CHRB's decision in court, and issued some verbal blows to his critics.

"Medication is one thing. Fixing races is another thing," Avila said. "If I wanted a price on him, why the hell would I send him to Kentucky Derby day with Victor Espinoza? They're trying to judge me as a race-fixer (because of medication)."

Avila also mentioned fellow trainer Doug O'Neill, who ran into trouble with the New York State Gaming Commission, CHRB, and Breeders' Cup for drug-related infractions in 2014.

"I'm going to talk to Doug O'Neill to get some nice brochures," Avila said in reference to O'Neill's 45-day suspensions in California and New York last year. "I haven't taken a vacation in seven years."

Avila said Masochistic will likely head back to Kentucky next time out for the $500,000 Churchill Downs Stakes (gr. II) May 2.

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