Welcome to 2022 Kentucky Derby Prospect Snapshots, where we’ll take a look each week at a recent winner on the Triple Crown trail, usually from the Road to the Kentucky Derby schedule from which the race horses earn points toward qualifying. The 1 ¼-mile Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve will be held May 7, 2022, at Churchill Downs.
Month: December 2021
Maryland Tracks To Institute Aftercare Funding Initiative January 1
The Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association Board of Directors recently approved an initiative designed to increase funding for the Beyond The Wire aftercare program.
Effective Jan. 1, 2022, pending review from the Maryland Racing Commission, there will be an assessment of 1.5 percent on the price of a claimed horse at Maryland racetracks. For example, the new owner or ownership group that claims a horse for $10,000 would pay a $150 assessment that would be used to support racehorses accepted by Beyond The Wire.
The program is similar to one in New York, where in 2019 the New York THA and New York Racing Association instituted a mandatory 1.5 percent aftercare assessment on claimed horses. The Maryland program will be “opt out,” meaning the 1.5 percent assessment will be charged unless an owner or ownership group signs an opt-out form that will be available in the MTHA office in the Laurel Park grandstand.
In a related matter, Beyond The Wire is offering opportunities to sponsor a retired racehorse for the holiday season and beyond. Occasionally, horses have medical problems or even more rare, behavioral problems, that make it very difficult for them to be adopted. Sometimes, it is in the best interest of the horse to live out their days at one of our Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance-accredited facilities.
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If you love horses, have a connection to a particular horse, love racing, are an animal lover or just want to do something that makes you feel good, please consider “sponsoring” one of our beautiful Thoroughbreds this holiday season. The list of sponsor horses can be found here. Please include the name of the horse with your PayPal donation at the top of the PayPal page.
Current sponsor opportunities include hay for a week ($25), shoes for a month ($125), X-rays for a checkup ($250), one month of board ($300), or any other amount.
Read more here.
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Assessment Started on UK Racing’s Environmental Sustainability
An initial assessment of British racing's progress on environmental sustainability, initiated and funded by the Racing Foundation, has been commissioned by British racing's leaders. The aim is to build a clearer overall picture of current environmental activities and expertise across racing and breeding-establishing what's already being done, where there's potential to go further, and how this could be achieved. It will also identify the key sustainability issues, risks, and opportunities for racing. The scoping assessment is likely to cover several areas of environmental sustainability, including CO2 emissions, decarbonisation and renewable energy, management of key resources such as water and plastics, and potential for positive contributions through biodiversity.
Lasting three months, the project will begin immediately and will be delivered by sustainability consultancy White Griffin. Working closely with industry representatives from the BHA, Horsemen's Group and RCA, White Griffin will actively engage with racing's businesses, employers, and participants, particularly those with interest or specialist expertise in environmental sustainability.
Brant Dunshea, BHA Chief Regulatory Officer and Project Executive Sponsor, said, “Climate change and sustainability are major challenges for our sport, given how dependent we are on the environment, transportation, and the use of essential resources.
“There is a real opportunity here for British racing to lead progress in this area, taking positive action to find effective solutions to the challenges we face–and crucially grasp some of the opportunities.
“This foundation research will help us do this by measuring where we are now, plus where there's scope to go further, either as individual organisations and businesses, or collectively through an industry-wide strategy.”
Rob Hezel, Chief Executive of the Racing Foundation, said, “We believe that environmental sustainability is crucial to British racing's long-term future and prosperity, which is why it is key pillar of the Racing Foundation's strategy.
“We are pleased to fund this initial package of work, which it is hoped will inform the next steps in terms of determining the need for an industry-wide approach to sustainability.
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Prosecutors Ask Judge To Revoke Bail After They Say Fishman Kept Selling Illegal Drugs After Arrest
According to documents filed by federal prosecutors this week, one of the defendants in the 2020 drug adulteration and misbranding case has been up to no good.
Prosecutors are asking for a bail review after they say defendant Dr. Seth Fishman has violated terms of his pretrial release and has committed new violations of federal misbranding laws. Fishman, who was trained as a veterinarian, is accused of making some of the illegal substances at the heart of last year's indictments of trainers, assistant trainers, and veterinarians in what the government says was a widespread scheme to dope racehorses.
In a letter to U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil, prosecutors say they were in the process of interviewing an unidentified employee of Fishman's drug distribution business, which they say at various times was known as Equestology, Camelology, Equi-Tech and other monikers, in early November. The employee mentioned during the interview that Fishman's business was still making “energy drinks” and a “bleeder paste” for foreign distribution.
All the federal defendants saw their travel restricted after their arrest. Fishman had requested an exemption to travel to the United Arab Emirates in fall 2020 but that request was denied by Vyskocil.
Prosecutors say that in conjunction with FBI agents, they searched the employee's workspace and discovered the products the employee told them about in addition to others. The drugs they discovered included vials of an injectable called HP Bleeder and “PSDS: Pain Shot DS,” some of which had manufacture dates reflecting that they were created in this calendar year.
Photographs included in the government's request show a bottle of HP Bleeder whose label encourages users to give it six to eight hours before exercise and declaring in includes “no known testable ingredients.” Photographs also showed new, still-flattened boxes branded with VO2Max and one for E.G.H., which they say stands for Equine Growth Hormone.
Attorneys are requesting the judge revoke Fishman's bail and impose pretrial detention.
It's not the first time prosecutors claim Fishman has violated conditions of his release. In a conference earlier this year (the transcript of which was unavailable), the government revealed Fishman faces two federal charges because the second “is effectively a sentencing enhancement against Dr. Fishman because his conduct allegedly continued after his arrest and release on bail in 2019.” [Fishman was arrested ahead of the other defendants in the case, but his case was sealed until the bulk of arrests took place in March 2020.]
“For a felony conviction, rather than the maximum prison sentence being five years, Fishman instead is subject to a ten-year maximum sentence.”
Fishman is in the first grouping of defendants set to go to trial. The case has been assigned as the back-up case to take a start date of Jan. 19 and is also the back-up case to take a date in March. It remains unclear when the trial will actually begin.
Documents released earlier this year revealed that Fishman's operation was extensive, involving hundreds of products. Fishman also said he created customized doping programs for trainers which could reduce potential exposure to him or his other clients if one of them were to come up with a positive test. Read more about this and other revelations from wire tap evidence in this September 2021 piece.
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