Todd Pletcher has been blocked from rearguing or appealing his 10-day suspension from the New York State Gaming Commission, leaving the Hall of Fame trainer serving the ban tied to Forte’s 2022 Hopeful Stakes positive.
The New York State Gaming Commission is everything that is wrong with horse racing regulation.
— Repole Stable (@RepoleStable) June 18, 2026
The ruling, reported on Thursday, keeps in place a sanction that began on June 18 and is due to run through June 27. Pletcher was also fined $1,000 after Forte, the 2022 champion juvenile, tested positive for meloxicam following his Grade 1 Hopeful Stakes win at Saratoga.
The case matters because it lands at a sensitive point in the US medication debate. The positive came before the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority’s Anti-Doping and Medication Control programme took over national adjudication, so the New York State Gaming Commission remained responsible for the matter.
Pletcher Case Stays With New York Regulator
According to Paulick Report’s account of the court decision, horses previously trained by Pletcher are entered this weekend under assistant trainers Anthony Sciametta Jr. and Steven Hampson.
Forte’s disqualification from the Hopeful and the handling of the old medication case have already drawn sharp criticism from the horse’s connections, but the latest decision removes Pletcher’s immediate route to reopen the suspension before it expires.
For a trainer of Pletcher’s profile, the sporting impact is brief. The wider consequence is regulatory: another high-profile pre-HISA case remains a reminder of how long historic positives can shadow major American racing operations.
