Keri Brion

A trio of turf graded stakes kicks off the Thoroughbred season at Saratoga on Thursday, headed by the GIII Pennine Ridge Stakes which features sophomores going 1 1/16 miles on the turf. Installed the 9-5 morning-line choice, Mo Speed Racing's West End Kid (Twirling Candy) will attempt to secure his third consecutive victory after posting a pair scores over this distance in a 3 1/2-length win Keeneland maiden on Apr. 11 followed by another confident tally in a Churchill optional claimer on May 8. Trained by Will Walden, the colt...

Every week, the TDN posts a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from around the country. The following rulings were reported on HISA's "rulings" portal and through the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit's (HIWU) "pending" and "resolved" cases portals. Among this week's rulings, trainer Angel Sanchez-Pinero has been handed a two-year suspension and $10,000 fine after his trainee Gone Boy tested positive for the bronchodilator Albuterol (Salbutamol) after winning at Aqueduct on April 19. Albuterol is a banned substance. The ruling came from an...

There likely aren't many, if anyone for that matter, involved in any meaningful way in the steeplechase industry in the U.S. that has not heard of Keri Brion. However, the 34-year-old is quickly making a name for herself with her flat stable as well, largely helped by a quintet of winners at Saratoga last summer, including Miztertonic (Mission Impazible), victorious at the Spa the past two seasons. On full display and getting to flex both muscles at Far Hills in New Jersey Saturday, Brion will saddle horses in five of...

The stewards at Charles Town Races on Wednesday issued a ruling that will not impose penalties against the licensure of trainer Curtis Bass after deeming that a "trace level" of a cocaine metabolite detected in a $5,000 claiming mare who won Apr. 10 was the result of "inadvertent exposure" to that drug. It's the second time in eight months that the Charles Town stewards have made that type of  determination on a cocaine positive, disqualifying the winning horse but not penalizing the trainer. Although West Virginia's Thoroughbred medication testing and...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - In her days as a Thoroughbred horse trainer, Keri Brion has been associated mainly with steeplechase runners. And she has no problem with that. The jump game has been good to her. Since opening her own stable, the former assistant to the late Hall of Famer Jonathan Sheppard has trained an Eclipse Award Steeplechase horse in The Mean Queen (Ire) (Doyen {Ire}), who won it in 2021, her first year. But there is more to her training game, and she made people take notice. On Thursday,...

The Horse Racing Women's Summit (HRWS) hosted their second event of the year with panels and networking opportunities taking place at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame on Tuesday, July 23 in Saratoga Springs, New York, the organization said in a Wednesday release. "To be clear, this is not an event where women get together to discuss female challenges," said Shona Rotondo, Chair of the HRWS Marketing & Communications Committee. "It's an event that brings together intelligent and successful industry professionals to discuss the challenges of our...

Cases against trainers Keri Brion and R. Lane Hendriks for benzoylecgonine (BZE) positives in covered horses have been withdrawn, according to a release from the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU). The Brion-trained Chasing After You (Speightstown) tested positive for cocaine after winning a $25,000 claimer at Presque Isle Downs Sept. 19. The former Jonathan Sheppard assistant was provisionally suspended by HIWU Oct. 14, but the suspension was postponed since the conditioner had yet to request a split sample or to inform HIWU that she was waiving her right to...

Trainer Keri Brion, who was provisionally suspended by the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) after a horse she trained allegedly tested positive for cocaine, has been cleared. The suspension was lifted pursuant to HIWU Rule 3247 (e). The rule reads: "...if it considers it appropriate to do so on the specific facts of the case, the Agency may lift the Provisional Suspension." Suspensions that had been issued to R. McLane Hendriks, Carlos Milian, Javier Morzan and Guadalupe Munoz Elizondo were also lifted. A full hearing in all five cases...

Every week, the TDN publishes a round-up of key official rulings from the primary tracks within the four major racing jurisdictions of California, New York, Florida and Kentucky. The TDN also posts a round-up of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from the same week. These include decisions from around the country. NEW HISA/HIWU STEWARDS RULINGS The following rulings were reported on HISA's "rulings" portal and through the Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit's "pending" and "resolved" cases portals. RESOLVED ADMC VIOLATIONS Original date: 09/16/2023 Licensee: Keith...

Trainer Keri Brion, whose stable includes both flat and steeplechase horses, has been provisionally suspended by the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) after a horse she trained allegedly tested positive for cocaine following a Sept. 19 race at Presque Isle Downs. The horse, Chasing After You (Speightstown), won the race, a $25,000 claiming event. Provisional suspensions can result in suspensions of up to two years. The suspension has been postponed because Brion has yet to either request a split sample or inform HIWU that she has waived her right...

Hall of Fame trainer Jonathan Sheppard has accomplished everything there is to accomplish in U.S. steeplechase racing. He's been leading steeplechase trainer 25 times, has trained 15 champions and has won every major steeplechase race run in the U.S.-many of them numerous times. But the native of Ashwell, Hertfordshire, England who came to America in 1961 has never won a race in Europe. In the months ahead, he hopes to change that. With the U.S. steeplechase season having ended Nov. 15 and because only a limited number of races were...

Tired of all the bad news? So were we. So, in our new series, we focus on the positive, asking people from non-horse racing families two questions: how they get hooked, and how they'll hook someone else on horse racing this year. KERI BRION, ASSISTANT TO JONATHAN SHEPPARD What was the experience that made you fall in love with horse racing? I grew up down the road from a horse racing training and breeding farm and I used to walk down the road and feed the mares and foals carrots....