With the Triple Crown behind him, Thoroughbred racehorse trainer Doug O’Neill seems more determined than ever to fight a 45-day suspension handed down by the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) for an elevated level of total carbon dioxide (TCO2) in a horse he raced at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif., in 2010.

"We’re gonna’ contest it," O’Neill said by phone June 13 in reference to last month’s CHRB decision. "I’m going to fight this until it reaches its conclusion."

O’Neill is known nationally as the conditioner of I’ll Have Another, the colt he withdrew from the Belmont Stakes (gr. I) the day before the June 9 race with a tendon injury after the son of Flower Alley captured the first two jewels of the Triple Crown. His latest flap with the CHRB concerns a filly named Argenta, who finished eighth in a low-level claiming race at Del Mar on Aug. 25, 2010. A pre-race blood test showed that Argenta had raced with a level of TCO2 that exceeded the legal limit of 37 millimoles.

Administrative law judge Steffan Imhoff, following a seven-day hearing, recommended that O’Neill be suspended for 180 days because of past violations. But he stayed 135 days of the suspension so long as the trainer has no further medication violations for an 18-month probationary period. In addition, he recommended a $15,000 fine. The CHRB, meeting in closed session May 24, adopted the recommendation