Jorge Navarro, the admitted cheater who last December was sentenced to five years in federal prison for his role in a wide-ranging horse-doping scheme busted by the FBI, appeared to be something of a mentor to fellow Thoroughbred trainer Michael Tannuzzo.
Like mentors often do, Navarro challenged Tannuzzo to be the best he could be. He offered advice on how and when to administer various illegal performance-enhancing drugs to get the best effect and to avoid detection by testing laboratories.
In the end, however, Navarro said it was up to Tannuzzo.
“Grow some balls,” Navarro said to Tannuzzo in a text message after offering to administer clenbuterol to one of Tannuzzo's horses. “Juice him up.”
“OK,” Tannuzzo responded, according to a pre-sentencing letter submitted by federal prosecutors to Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil, who will determine whether Tannuzzo will go to prison and for how long. Tannuzzo pleaded guilty in July to one count of drug adulteration and misbranding as part of a plea agreement.
At his change of plea hearing (which came after the court denied motions to dismiss and to suppress evidence, and after two other defendants were convicted in a jury trial), Tannuzzo downplayed his own cheating.
“Tannuzzo stated – despite evidence to the contrary – that his conduct consisted of connecting a trainer (“Trainer-1”) with co-defendant Ross Cohen for the purpose of enabling Trainer-1 to purchase 'Monkey,' a drug Tannuzzo claimed he 'never used.' …
“Tannuzzo selectively admits to certain of his offense conduct, then insists that he did not ever personally administer PEDs to a horse, and that he only 'banter[ed]' but did not take 'actual action.'”
Prosecutors said Tannuzzo's “narrative … belies the scope and extent of his offense conduct.”
The pre-sentencing letter said Tannuzzo “routinely” obtained blood builders like “Monkey” from Cohen and sought PEDs from Navarro and also assisted in the latter's doping program.
“Tannuzzo was not merely a spectator to Navarro's doping,” prosecutors wrote. “Tannuzzo used Navarro to gain insight and access to PEDs beyond those Tannuzzo was independently procuring.”
In one intercepted conversation between Navarro and Tannuzzo, Navarro explained how to administer a product he was told was similar to the blood-doping agent EPO.
“Here is what I want you to do, Mikey,” Navarro said. “Tomorrow, you pull the blood as soon as the vet turns around. This powder you mix it with 2ccs of water. … Alright so you mix and then you give it to the vein, whatever you mix it with 2ccs, 2.5 ccs, 3ccs, doesn't matter. Alright, so tomorrow is Friday. Saturday I want you to come in and give her a build-up. Monday, I want you to come and give her a build-up. Wednesday, I want you to come and give her a build-up. Okay.
“But this is the generic,” Navarro said, apparently referring to a compounded product. “The real (EPO) you got three days. Alright, that's why Nick Surick (co-defendant due who also pleaded guilty and is due for sentencing in December) called me, 'Jorge, I'm in trouble, I did the real one, what do I do?' I said they can't pull blood the first three days. The fourth day, they see a cloud, but they don't know what the fuck it is.”
Navarro was referring to how long after administering the FDA-approved EPO, or erythropoietin, it is detectable in drug tests. Prosecutors said Surick had administered EPO to a racehorse shortly before the New Jersey Racing Commission showed up to take out-of-competition samples for the horse. He then directed his staff to try and hide the horse from regulators.
Prosecutors also said Tannuzzo obtained the adulterated and misbranded drug SGF-1000 from co-defendant Kristian Rhein. In an intercepted conversation with Tannuzzo on June 29, 2019, Rhein explained the potency of the drug and how and when to administer it in advance of a specific race in which a Tannuzzo runner would be entered.
“Pop him with this thing though before he runs,” Rhein said. “You know, three, four days, doesn't matter. Whatever you want. I mean but just – it doesn't need anything else.
“Just give it and he will come out of there (like) he was shot out of a fucking gun.”
When the two spoke June 30, 2019, Rhein said an injection could be done three to four days before a race.
“I gave it to him today,” said Tannuzzo. “That's only six days out.”
According to Equibase, Tannuzzo ran two horses six days later. On July 6, 2019, Flying P Stable's Rocket Heat finished second at 8-1 odds in the Grade 3, $200,000 Parx Dash. That same day, Flying P Stable's Rockford finished second as the 8-5 favorite in a $12,500 claiming race at Monmouth Park.
“Tannuzzo's efforts to obtain the aforementioned drugs was not mere 'banter,'” prosecutors wrote. “The defendant's self-serving claims in his sentencing submission that he did not ever 'follow through and dope horses' in light of his conversations and efforts to obtain PEDs defies common sense.”
The government is recommending a prison sentence of between 30 to 36 months. Sentencing is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET on Monday, Nov. 21, in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, 500 Pearl Street, New York, N.Y.
The post ‘Grow Some Balls, Juice Him Up’: In Pre-Sentencing Letter, Prosecutors Say Tannuzzo Learned From Navarro Doping Program appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
Harness racing trainer Patricia Brewer is facing a $3,000 fine and 180-day suspension after four of her trainees came up positive for TCO2 within 10 days at the Red Mile in Kentucky, according to last week's fines and suspensions bulletins issued by the United States Trotting Association.
It is not known whether Brewer will appeal.
The four positive tests were as follows:
Kentucky and Louisiana became the last states to outlaw manipulation of TCO2 levels in the 1990s, and California started testing for elevated levels in 2004.
TCO2, or total carbon dioxide, is present in horses naturally as a result of normal metabolic processes. When someone tries to manipulate TCO2, they're hoping to increase TCO2 levels and decrease lactate levels. Lactate is the byproduct of aerobic exercise and causes muscles to feel tired.
Milkshaking, one method of trying to artificially manipulate TCO2, involves delivering a dose of sodium ions along with bicarbonate, commonly from an ingredient like baking soda. This is intended to elevate TCO2 and therefore reduce lactate as the horse's body works to keep everything in balance. Milkshaking is thought to have crossed into Thoroughbred racing from the Standardbred world in the late 1980s. The practice gets its name from the slurry consistency of the paste delivered directly to the horse's stomach via a nasogastric tube.
The post Harness Trainer Facing 180-Day Suspension Over Four TCO2 Positives At Red Mile appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
Pinehurst (Twirling Candy–Giant Win, by Giant's Causeway), winner of last year's GI Del Mar Futurity and this year's G3 Saudi Derby, will be offered on Fasig-Tipton Digital in a one-horse auction beginning Thursday, Nov. 17 at 12 p.m. ET and concluding Tuesday, Nov. 22 at 2 p.m. ET. Pinehurst is being offered by ELiTE, agent, as a racing or stallion prospect.
The bay, bred on a similar cross to Gun Runner, was a debut winner at Del Mar last August and followed up with a 4 1/2-length victory in the Futurity. Making his sophomore debut in the GII San Vicente S., Pinehurst was a sound second to the talented Forbidden Kingdom (American Pharoah) and made virtually all the running over the testing one-turn mile at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Saudia Arabia, defeating the well-regarded Japanese raider Sekifu (Jpn) (Henny Hughes).
Pinehurst has three wins from seven trips to the post for earnings of $1,213,500.
Produced by a daughter of MSW Win's Fair Lady (Dehere)–herself a full-sister to MGSW/GISP Graeme Hall–Pinehurst is out of a full-sister to GSW First Passage, the dam of GSW Berned (Bernardini) and First to Act (Curlin), second to Nest (Curlin) in the GII Beldame S. last month. Pinehurst's third dam also includes GISW Harmony Lodge (Hennessy).
“Pinehurst's credentials make him a highly attractive offering,” said Leif Aaron, Fasig-Tipton Director of Digital Sales. “He's a Grade I winner at two, an international graded stakes winner at three and impeccably bred. He should have a broad appeal to racing and stallion operations the world over.”
The post ‘Pinehurst Flash Sale’ Begins Thursday on Fasig-Tipton Digital appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
