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STANTON, Del. — Eight Belles' trainer is certain the filly was never on steroids and has ordered tests to prove it.

Larry Jones said Tuesday he wanted to dispel any suggestion the Kentucky Derby runner-up was on performance-enhancing drugs. Eight Belles was euthanized after breaking both front ankles Saturday, a quarter-mile after the finish at Churchill Downs.

"I guarantee there were no steroids ever on the horse," Jones said at a news conference at Delaware Park, site of the filly's first victory.

Eight Belles' owner, Rick Porter, said the filly fractured her two front cannon bones.

Jones was adamant that a complete necropsy will show no use of performance-enhancing drugs, and hoped it would uncover any previously undiscovered "soundness issues."

Jones was still emotional about the loss of the horse three days after the Derby. He broke down three times during the 30-minute news conference while recalling the filly.

But the trainer's voice rose when he said he was responding to unspecified criticism he heard on radio programs while traveling from Kentucky to Delaware that his horse must have been on steroids because she was so large.

"We're taking a lot of abuse out there. … We're being accused of steroid abuse because she was so large," he said. "I can tell you that Mr. Porter goes to the sale to look for good horses, and that's one of the things you look for — a horse that's big enough, strong enough and fast enough to compete in big races."

Jones said the last time he used steroids was in 1997, on a severely injured horse. He said, even then, he used just a fraction of the allowable amount of the drug.

The use of steroids is a hot-button issue in racing, and there is a growing movement to crack down on the use of anabolic steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs.

Derby horses are not tested for steroids, but that might change because of increased pressure from inside and outside the industry for racing to develop stricter drug regulations.

The Racing Medication and Testing Consortium is attempting to draft uniform medication and drug-testing rules nationwide. One model officials have been shown would allow vets to administer one of four anabolic steroids. But the horses would not be allowed to race for at least 30 days after receiving the dosage.

In addition to defending his training methods, Jones again defended Eight Belles jockey Gabriel Saez.

"People have been on him. It's uncalled for. It's unjust," Jones said.

Saez has not spoken publicly since the Derby, but has returned to riding. In fact, he won his first race at Delaware Park on Sunday by six lengths, had a first- and a third-place finish Monday and a pair of seconds on Tuesday.