Trainer Fined $100K by Nevada Regulators for Drugging Race Horses

Posted on: June 12, 2025, 04:42h. 

Last updated on: June 13, 2025, 09:44h.

Corey Levitan Read More
Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Entertainment, Expert Insight, Las Vegas, Restaurants, Vegas Myths Busted.
  • Ricardo Castillo faces a 15-year ban and $100K fine for drugging horses he ran in the Elko County Fair
  • That’s 25 times the maximum fine imposed by Nevada’s horse racing steward
  • This is the second time in history that the Nevada Gaming Control Board has proposed stricter fines than meted out by Nevada’s horse racing steward
  • It’s also the second time in the state’s history

The Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) has ruled for the second time in its history — and the second time in two months!! — to impose harsher penalties on a horse trainer than recommended by the state racing’s steward.

Horses line up to race at the Elko County Fairgrounds, one of only two active horseracing venues in Nevada. The other is the White Pine County Fairgrounds in Ely. (Image: Elko County Fair website)

Ricardo Castillo will be fined 100K, have his state horse racing license revoked, and face a 15-year ban from the sport for drugging four Quarter Horses that won races at last fall’s Elko County Fair in Elko, Nev.

The horses — Bnb Hasta La Luna, Famous Prizes, Dr. B and Bnb Lightning McQueen — all tested positive for the illegal narcotics methamphetamine and amphetamine, and two of the horses tested positive for opioid painkiller Tramadol.

State Horse Racing Steward Doug Ray previously disqualified all four horses from their wins and imposed the maximum allowable penalty — $1,000 per horse plus a 180-day suspension against Castillo.

After telling Ray he had no idea how the drugs were injected into the horses he trained, Castillo then appealed the ruling to the NGCB.

This gave the board the ability to modify the punishment, which they happily did when Castillo failed to show up for his hearing on Wednesday.

Galloping Mad

“It endangers the animals, it endangers the riders, it endangers the other horses and the other riders, and it endangers the ability for those who want to wager on the races and believe that Nevada is providing fair and open competition and wagering out in Elko,” said NGCB chair and executive director Kirk Hendrick.

Castillo’s racing record includes 105 Quarter Horse winners from 672 starters in a career stretching back to 2008. He also trained a handful of Thoroughbreds, according to Equibase.

The drugged horses Castillo trained won races at the state fair on August 24, August 31, and September 2, following which, they were routinely drug-tested.

Their prize purses were redistributed to other horses in three of the four races. The NGCB is attempting to recover the purse from a fourth owner who was already paid.

In April, the Nevada Gaming Commission (NGC) voted to fine trainer Alvaro Torres $5,000 — five times the maximum penalty possible from the horse racing steward — for giving his winning racehorse cocaine, in addition to revoking his horse racing license for five years.

Horse racing stewards have been able to appeal for greater penalties for at least 30 years, yet this was the first time one ever had.

That horse, The Saime Pro, also won a race at the Elko County Fair on August 24. Torres also didn’t show up for his hearing.

The NGC is expected to approve the latest fines at its June 26 meeting.