A hearing officer has ruled that the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission acted properly when it handed a five-year suspension to veterinarian Dr. Rodney Stewart after cobra venom and other prohibited substances were found in a barn and in his truck at Keeneland in June 2007.

Hearing officer Robert Layton, who conducted a two-day hearing in December into Stewart’s appeal of the suspension, agreed with the KHRC attorneys on all aspects of the case, stating that the length of the suspension was long but “legally supportable” and that claims by the veterinarian’s attorneys that the property where the barn was located was not technically under regulatory supervision of the KHRC had no merit.

“The penalties issued for the September 17, 2007 stewards’ rulings support the commission’s mission of ensuring the safety and integrity of racing,” Layton concluded. (Read the complete findings.)  

The lengthy, high profile case stemmed from an inspection conducted June 22, 2007 at barns occupied by trainer Patrick Biancone at Keeneland Race Course and the Keeneland Training Center, located on Rice Road across from the main facility. During the inspection, a soft-sided cooler containing the prohibited substance cobratoxin was found in a refrigerator at Biancone’s barn at the training center. A search of a box in the back of Stewart’s truck on the main track premises contained carbidopa and levodopa, both considered Class A medication under Kentucky racing rules