Trainer Mark Shuman, who vans his horses four hours from owner Michael Gill’s training center in Pennsylvania to race at Aqueduct, was suspended 20 days by the New York State Racing and Wagering Board yesterday for violating state racing rules and fined $5,000 for a medication positive.

Both penalties concern the horse Askara, who finished second in the fifth race at Belmont Park Sept. 17. Shuman was suspended because, according to the ruling, Askara’s ankle was aspirated (drained of fluid, or “tapped”) in conjunction with a steroid injection within the five-day limit for such a procedure. The fine was for Celecoxib, known by the trade name Celebrex, a Class 4 drug used to treat arthritis.

Askara has been disqualified and unplaced in the order of finish. Shuman was granted a stay on appeal, arguing he treated Askara within the proper time frame in both cases.

“They’re fining me $5,000 for the same medication as bute [Butazolidin],” he said. “I train a lot of my horses on it and stop seven days out from a race. The testing is new on this, and it was in the urine, not the blood, so it had no impact on the horse’s performance. I was denied a split sample. I’m appealing on those grounds.”

As for the treatment of the ankle, Shuman said, “They’re going by the vet’s billing record, showing it was four days, but it was done five days out.

“It’s kind of shocking how this came out. I know other people in New York use [Celecoxib]. I just want to be treated fairly.”

The powerful Gill-Shuman stable, noted for its aggressive claiming tactics, has dominated several race meets along the East Coast the past few years, arousing resentment from other horsemen. Gulfstream Park, where Gill-Shuman shattered the record for most wins last winter, barred two of Gill’s veterinarians from the grounds, while Delaware Park and other tracks have denied them stalls.

Shuman does not have any horses stabled at Belmont or Aqueduct, so he is operating out of Gill’s Elk Creek Training Center near the Pennsylvania-Maryland border.