A study done by the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of California-Davis has revealed that a racehorse is likely to show a positive test result for metformin if its groom is taking the diabetes medication and urinates in the horse's stall.After a rash of metformin positives in 2024, anecdotal information surfaced that in many of these cases their grooms handling the horses had been on the drug. Metformin is used to manage blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes.With the uncertainty over the metformin cases rising, HIWU put a stay on any enforcement until further scientific review could be conducted. HIWU has nine cases pending from 2024-25.Not one trainer was hit harder for a metformin positive than Jonathan Wong. Wong was provisionally suspended in August, 2023 after being alerted that the B Sample confirmed the presence of metformin in a post-race test taken from his trainee, Heaven and Earth (Gormley). Wong, who denied all wrongdoing, was given a two-year suspension that began on July 1, 2023, and a $25,000 fine, along with having to pay back $8,000 in arbitration costs.Wong resurfaced on Feb. 13, 2024 at the Fair Grounds, taking advantage of the fact that HISA and HIWU have no jurisdiction over Louisiana. He has not run a horse outside the state since.Though his HIWU suspension ended last summer and there are no longer any charges pending against him, Wong has been marooned in Louisiana. His attorney, Brad Beilly, said part of the reason he has not sought to race outside of Louisiana is that he is struggling financially and is having a hard time coming up with the $33,000 he must pay to be reinstated by HISA.In 2022, the last full year of training before he was suspended, Wong's stable earned $5,391,479. His total earnings in 2025 were $1,615,070.Wong said that he has been through so much since he was first hit with the positive that he will take a wait-and-see attitude.“For me, this study is, I think, great news,” he said. “With the study that they did from UC Davis, they showed how it would take such a high level to make any effect on a horse and my level is still way, way, way below it. Yet, there was still no taking back of my suspension, nothing, no waving of my fine. For me, it's tough to get optimistic at this point because everything that we've said…starting with the chain of custody, which there were important issues over. We brought in the question of chain of custody and laboratory testing and we proved all of it and none of it was to our benefit. They had zero intention to even really care. That's why I have a hard time getting optimistic.”Owner Brent Malmstrom, who has been a big supporter of Wong throughout his ordeal, maintains that had the information on metformin that is now available been made public when Wong first came onto HIWU's radar, things would have been handled far differently.“Jonathan Wong would not have been suspended,” Malmstrom said. “None of the things would've happened. And in fact, none of the cases that led to penalties or the positives as they relate to metformin would've even been charged. There are a lot of trainers out there who were wrongly charged.”According to Malmstrom, HIWU has been in contact with the Wong legal team but has made offers that have been rejected.“At the end of the day, they've offered to settle his case and we've rejected their offers because part of their consideration for settlement is that we have to agree to drop any and all lawsuits,” he said. “I don't believe that what they've offered is enough restitution to make him whole.”The next steps will be left up to Wong, Malmstrom and Beilly. They appear ready to take on HIWU and see where things lead in court. Beilly said seeking punitive damages is a possibility and a civil suit is likely.“When HIWU announced that they were putting all the metformin cases on hold because they weren't sure of the science and they were going to undertake these studies to get some answers, we specifically asked both HISA and HIWU to take Wong off of suspension and if they didn't change the thresholds to put them back on when the studies were over and they refused,” Beilly said. “So Wong was the only person to be found liable under bad science. So the question now is what's going to happen because HISA has acknowledged on the record in another case that they are not immune from a damages suit.”“We've talked about (a lawsuit),” Malmstrom said. “The Federal Magistrate in the Phil Serpe case has had HIWU acknowledge and HISA acknowledge that they can be sued. They're not immune from responsibility. Even though they've hidden behind this, 'we're private entity, we're a federal entity'–and have done so depending on which facts and circumstances suit their cause. So we will look at it. We'll think which claims are the most appropriate and which jurisdiction is the most appropriate to file and go forward.”Attorney Drew Mollica, who represented George Weaver in a metformin case, applauded HIWU for using science to get more definitive answers when it comes to metformin, but said it was too little too late.“The regulations are written that you can't challenge the validity of their science, which is completely counter to due process because the science is the only thing they have,” Mollica said. “Once they find a positive, they throw it back at the poor trainer and say, 'Trainer responsibility, it's completely your problem … Unless you can show us where.' Well, sometimes you can't show where something came from because it's unfindable. So the science has to be able to be questioned. And without questioning the science, you're just walking these people down a plank.“The truth of the matter is HISA and HIWU have shown that they're trying to move forward. But the truth is how do we put the broken eggs back together from the mistakes? How do we put these people back together?”The post With HIWU Study Showing that Metformin Positives Can be a Result of Contamination, Jonathan Wong’s Team Weighing Legal Options appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.