January, 2022 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Hearing: Blea’s Attorney Says Allegations Do Not Meet ‘Extraordinary Standard’ For License Suspension

The formal hearing of the California Veterinary Medical Board's petition for the interim suspension of California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) equine medical director Jeff Blea's medical license occurred on Friday, reports the Thoroughbred Daily News. Judge Nana Chin now has 30 days to issue a ruling.

Blea is facing eight causes for discipline, according to formal “accusation” documents issued in late December. Blea's veterinary license was suspended at an emergency meeting held on Christmas Eve. He has not been operating his racetrack practice since taking the job of equine medical director last summer.

Blea has been placed on administrative leave and has also been removed from his role overseeing the investigation into the death of Bob Baffert-trained Medina Spirit, who dropped dead after completing a workout at Santa Anita. The equine medical director is not responsible for actually performing necropsies or testing biological samples on horses who die in racing or training in California or elsewhere. Those responsibilities go to veterinary pathologists and toxicologists — in California, those duties are contracted to UC-Davis, though some samples have been shipped outside California in this particular case. The equine medical director would be responsible for gathering reports and interpreting them for presentation to the board and to the public.

Deputy attorney general Elaine Yan, representing the medical board, argued Friday that the allegations against Blea are violations of the veterinary medical practice act.

Meanwhile, Blea's attorney George Wallace argued that the allegations against the veterinarian do not meet the “extraordinary standard” generally required for the suspension of a veterinary license.

“You've had drunken veterinarians. You've had substance abusing veterinarians who you would not trust in a surgical suite. You have had grossly incompetent veterinarians who keep messing up even after the accusations have been filed,” said Wallace.

“In none of those cases has the veterinary medical board sought in interim suspension order. Dr. Blea is apparently the most dangerous veterinarian in existence in California, and the board has not articulated an actual present remotely likely danger that is posed by letting this disciplinary process go through the process of hearing the merits and a determination.”

Earlier this week, Dr. Gregory Ferraro, chairman of the California Horse Racing Board, called the recent investigation and action by the Veterinary Medical Board to temporarily suspend Blea's license an “unwarranted and unfair vendetta” that is “ill-advised and slanderous.” Ferraro said Blea has become a “pawn in a politically driven effort” to hurt horse racing in California. As a result of Blea having to be put on administrative leave from his post with the CHRB, Ferraro added, “the health and safety of racehorses are being compromised.”

Read more at the Thoroughbred Daily News.

The post Hearing: Blea’s Attorney Says Allegations Do Not Meet ‘Extraordinary Standard’ For License Suspension appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Trainer Mark Glatt Announces Decision To Split With Little Red Feather Racing Stable

The Daily Racing Form reports that trainer Mark Glatt informed Little Red Feather Racing Stable of his decision to part ways on Friday.

“I was asked (by Little Red Feather) to make a business decision that was extremely uncomfortable,” Glatt told DRF, adding that the move “is unrelated to any horse or racing activity.”

Six horses owned by LRF will be transferred to other trainers, including graded stakes-winning turf sprinter Beer Can Man.

The ownership group and Glatt had worked together since summer of 2020.

Letter to the Editor: Why I Choose Racing Over The Sports I Loved For 50 Years

I just read the letter from my fellow Texan (Name Withheld) and I appreciate that he took the time to share his thoughts. I try to be open minded and we (racing) need everyone's opinion. However, like a coin there's two sides to this story and I feel compelled to share a different perspective.

As a kid growing up in Detroit in the 1970s, my days and nights were filled with following and watching football, baseball, basketball and hockey. I wasn't a casual fan, I was the true meaning of fan – fanatical. Watched and played sports 24/7, read the sports page front to back, traded cards, listened to the Tigers broadcast on my transistor radio well past bedtime and became a sports encyclopedia that could tell you Denny McLain's ERA the year he won 31 games, but couldn't recite the presidents of the United States.

As I became an adult, I continued to be an avid sports fan and had season tickets to the Miami Dolphins, the San Francisco 49ers, the Dallas Cowboys and, for the past 25 years, the San Antonio Spurs. I was in Candlestick Park for “The Catch” and in the arena when the Spurs hung five championship banners. Talk about a run. I thought to myself, 'It doesn't get any better than this.' I couldn't have been more wrong!

I had always been intrigued by Thoroughbred racing, but I was just a casual fan who went to the local racetrack occasionally or watched the Triple Crown races on TV. Then something happened about 15 years ago that changed my sports world forever! I decided that I wanted to own a piece of a racehorse and went in search of a syndicate and a horse that looked good to me. I didn't know anything about anything so going in search of a racehorse is nothing short of hilarious to me today. Anyway, I fell into safe hands and I was off and running.

Those early years were a blast – surrounded by great people that were truly passionate about the game and lived it morning, noon and night. I was having a ton of fun, but after a few years the numbers on the circuit I was running just didn't make sense. In other words, my expense to purse ratio was not good enough to sustain my stable. I had graduated from the syndicate ranks a few years earlier and the expenses can mount up if you aren't careful. A change had to be made if I was going to survive in the game that I was now so passionate about.

That took me to the West Coast and what was, in my eyes, the mecca of racing. You only need to sit in the stands of Santa Anita Park once looking out over the track at the San Gabriel Mountains or stand in the saddling paddock of Del Mar to know you don't want to run anywhere else in the world. To make a long story shorter, my move to California was a game changer for me. I had the good fortune of some graded stakes wins and Breeder's Cup appearances that I thought were reserved for only the top players in the game.

I don't take winning for granted. It's a tough game and winning is the culmination of a lot of hard work on the part of a lot of good people. Horsemen and horsewomen committed to their trades and working tirelessly to achieve results in a sport where losing 80% of the time is considered a success. I have found that most are motivated by passion and not by money or greed. But maybe the best part of all is the friendships that you make in racing — the kind that will celebrate you when you win and are there to pick you up when you lose.

So, whatever happened to the sports I followed for 50 years? While “Name Withheld” wrote about horse racing changing, so has MLB, NFL, NBA and NHL. I guess the $150 million contracts, the outrageous tickets prices, and the $15 hotdogs and beers contributed to my change, but it was the greatness of racing that ultimately changed the sports landscape for me.

While change is inevitable in all sports, it doesn't have to be a negative. Let's evolve our game to be more inclusive and let's work together to make it better. It's easy to tear something down, but it takes real commitment to make racing something we can all be proud of.

I'm in – how about you?

In closing, I would like to thank my trainers, my partners, my jockeys, my agents, my veterinarians, my fellow owners, the racetracks and my horse racing friends that have contributed so significantly to giving me the opportunity to take the ride of a lifetime. It truly is The Greatest Game!

–Mark Martinez (Agave Racing Stable)

If you would like to submit a letter to the editor, please write to info at paulickreport.com and include contact information where you may be reached if editorial staff have any questions.

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Courtney, Eurton, Gaudet and Yu To Host Eclipse Awards

Acacia Courtney, Britney Eurton, Gabby Gaudet and Michelle Yu have been named as the hosts of the 51st Annual Eclipse Awards to be held Thursday evening, Feb. 10, at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. Courtney, Eurton and Gaudet began hosting the event together in 2020, while this will be Yu's first appearance as a host.

Courtney is in her sixth year as on-air talent at Gulfstream Park, while also working for the New York Racing Association as the host for 'America's Day at the Races' and Saratoga Live on FOX Sports.

Eurton is primarily a reporter with TVG, having joined the network in 2014, but also contributes to NBC Sports' coverage of the Triple Crown, Royal Ascot and the Breeders' Cup.

Now a TVG analyst, Gaudet, the daughter of trainers Linda and the late Eddie Gaudet, began her career as a paddock analyst for the Maryland Jockey Club in 2013 and has held similar positions at Arlington, Gulfstream and Keeneland. She also served on the NYRA broadcast team as a racing analyst and reporter and is a current member of the on-air talent at TVG. Gaudet joined the network in 2019.

Yu is a member of the Santa Anita simulcast team who broke into the business as a hotwalker before moving on to TV production. Her resume includes FOX, Breeders' Cup, HRTV, TVG and a variety of international programming.

The post Courtney, Eurton, Gaudet and Yu To Host Eclipse Awards appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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