Janiak fined $25,000 for positive test

Joe Janiak, the trainer of Global Sprint Challenge winner Takeover Target

(Celtic Swing ), has been fined $25,000 (HK$200,000) for a drug positive

responsible for the withdrawal of the multiple Group 1 winner on the morning of

the December 10 Hong Kong Sprint (HK-G1). The seven-year-old gelding repeatedly tested

positive for the drug 17-alpha-hydroxyprogesterone hexanoate, a prohibited

substance in Hong Kong.

In additional testimony before Hong Kong Jockey Club stewards Friday, Janiak argued that in his 34 years as a licensed trainer, that he had never

violated a similar rule and that his disciplinary record was clean. The stewards

ruled that the events leading up to the Hong Kong Sprint "could have the effect

of tarnishing the image of horse racing in Hong Kong."  Janiak, a former

taxicab driver, was ultimately held liable for the drug positive.

The stewards found that Janiak was well aware of the presence of the drug in

Takeover Target and that the substance, administered in Japan while he was there

to contest the Sprinters S. (Jpn-G1) in October, was "highly unlikely" to clear

his system.