New Mexico Stewards Issue Summary Suspension to Owner Samuel A. Valeriano -UPDATE 08/01/26

The New Mexico Racing Commission Board of Stewards has summarily suspended the racing license of owner Samuel A. Valeriano (Valeriano Racing Stable LLC), effective immediately, pending the outcome of a summary suspension hearing scheduled for August 6.

According to the ruling issued July 30, the suspension stems from an NMRC investigation based on a USDA report received July 16, 2026. Stewards determined that Valeriano's alleged conduct constitutes "an immediate danger to the public health, safety, integrity and welfare of the horseracing industry." The ruling cites Conduct Detrimental to Racing under New Mexico Rule 15.2.1.9.A.(3).

The order further states that, during the suspension, all horses owned by Valeriano or in partnership with him that have started in his name or under Valeriano Racing Stable LLC are to be placed on the stewards' list. Those horses are denied entry, participation, transfer, and sale until the case has been fully adjudicated. Valeriano is also excluded from all areas under the jurisdiction of the New Mexico Racing Commission.

The hearing is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. MDT on August 6 at the offices of the Board of Stewards at The Downs at Albuquerque Racetrack. The matter remains pending, and no final determination has been issued.

Additional reporting August 1, 2026:

A third ruling issued July 30 summarily suspended groom Manuel Alejandro Garcia. According to the ruling, Garcia had worked as a groom for multiple trainers involved in carmoterol positives. Stewards determined that his alleged conduct constituted “an immediate danger to the public health, safety, integrity, and welfare of the horse racing industry.”

Garcia was also excluded from all New Mexico racing grounds pending his Aug. 6 hearing.

Garcia’s ruling does not specifically reference the USDA report or identify him as the groom described by federal investigators. Its allegations, however, concern the same group of carmoterol cases examined in the federal investigation.

All three licensees have been excluded from grounds under the jurisdiction of the New Mexico Racing Commission while their cases proceed.

The rulings represented the first known disciplinary measures issued following disclosure of the USDA investigation. Later Friday, however, a state district court granted temporary relief to Valeriano, Valerio and Garcia while their legal challenge proceeds.

Lincoln County District Court Judge John P. Sugg issued a temporary restraining order Friday at 4:46 p.m. local time partially blocking enforcement of Valeriano’s summary suspension. The order temporarily prohibits the NMRC from enforcing the portion of the ruling that bars horses owned by, or in partnership with, Valeriano from entering races or being transferred or sold.

The court specifically ruled that the order does not affect Valeriano’s personal license suspension, his exclusion from commission grounds, or the Aug. 6 summary suspension hearing. The temporary restraining order expires Aug. 6 unless extended by the court.

The order states that it “does NOT disturb the summary suspension of Petitioner Valeriano’s personal license, does NOT disturb the exclusion of Petitioner Valeriano from Commission grounds, and does NOT prevent the summary suspension hearing set for August 6, 2026 from proceeding.”

In granting the emergency relief, Judge Sugg wrote that delaying relief until the Aug. 6 hearing would cause irreparable harm because several of Valeriano’s horses would miss entry deadlines for the All American Futurity and All American Derby trials, opportunities that “cannot be re-run, the purse cannot be recovered, and the horse’s racing condition cannot be restored.”

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