An arbitrator has ruled that Southern California trainer Mike Puype should be credited for time served under a provisional suspension as the appropriate penalty for charges of possession of two illegal substances that were filed by the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit earlier this year. The arbitrator’s ruling, which was issued on Dec. 12, said that Puype and his staff were “responsible for an imperfect search and purge” of his barn at Santa Anita in the run-up to an April 24 search that turned up containers of levothyroxine and isoxsuprine, two banned medications under the Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) program enforced by HIWU. The ADMC program went into effect in May of 2023. The arbitrator, Barbara Reeves, ruled that the three months and 17 days that Puype served under a provisional suspension earlier this year was an adequate punishment given the circumstances of the case. Puype was facing a four-year suspension due to the two separate charges of possession of an illegal substance. Puype, who has had two minor medication infractions over a 30-year training career, was suspended on July 18. The suspension was lifted on Nov. 4 when the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, which devises the rules enforced by HIWU, modified its policy on provisional suspensions that dramatically reduced the instances in which trainers would be issued the suspensions. :: Subscribe to the DRF Post Time Email Newsletter: Get the news you need to play today's races!  During the April 24 search, according to the ruling, investigators with HIWU discovered two bottles of isoxsuprine tablets in a cooler. Isoxsuprine is a banned vasodilator. Two containers of levothyroxine, a banned substance that is used to treat thyroid deficiencies, were found in a locked cabinet. One of the containers was nearly empty, and both had labels indicating that the medications were expired. Puype and his assistant trainers all testified during a hearing in front of the arbitrator that Puype did not know the substances were in his barn and that they were prescribed well before the ADMC program went into effect, according to the ruling. In addition, they testified that Puype would “not administer expired medication to a horse under any circumstances.” The ruling pointed out that Puype did not know the combination to the lock on the cabinet where the levothyroxine was found. HIWU argued that ignorance of the contents of the cooler and the cabinet did not exonerate Puype from facing a penalty for being in possession of the substances. HIWU also argued that Puype had attended a seminar in which officials for HISA urged trainers to conduct thorough searches of their barns to remove any substances that might run afoul of the regulations that went into place in 2023. Reeves, the arbiter, cited Puype for some responsibility for failing to remove the substances, but she wrote that Puype “made a careless but understandable mistake in not searching every location within the barn, including areas to which he did not have regular access.” In her final statements, Reeves also took issue with the length of the ban being sought by HIWU given that testimony in the case indicated that Puype’s transgressions were not related to an intent to cheat. “It is not clear to the arbitrator what HIWU was attempting to accomplish in the way it prosecuted this matter,” Reeves wrote. Reeves also fined Puype $1,000, but she denied a request by HIWU that Puype pay the costs of arbitration. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.