November, 2022 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Veterinarian Grasso Sentenced to 50 Months

Louis Grasso, a veterinarian who worked in the harness racing industry and was one of more than two dozen individuals indicted in 2020 for their role in a horse doping ring, has been sentenced to 50 months in prison and two years of supervised release. The sentence was handed down Tuesday by U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel in a lower Manhattan courtroom.

Grasso was also ordered to pay a forfeiture totaling $412,442.62 and restitution in the amount of $47,656,576. He must surrender to authorities on January 24, 2023, at which time he will enter prison.

Grasso was charged with one count of drug adulteration and misbranding conspiracy, a felony. He faced a maximum sentence of five years. Several other defendants in the doping case that have pled guilty received sentences in the neighborhood of three years. That Castel gave Grasso more than four years seems to reflect the severity of the charges against him.

The prosecution had maintained that Grasso's doping led to corrupt trainers collecting over $47 million in ill-gotten purse winnings.

In May, when Grasso entered a guilty plea, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District Court issued a press release in which U.S. Attorney Damian Williams commented on the Grasso plea as well as the guilty plea entered by harness trainer Richard Banca. Banca was sentenced to 30 months.

“Grasso and Banca represent the corruption and greed of those in the racehorse industry looking to win at any cost,” Williams said. “In peddling illegal drugs and selling prescriptions to corrupt trainers, Louis Grasso abdicated his responsibilities as a medical professional to ensure the safety and health of the racehorses he 'treated.' By injecting horses with unnecessary and, at times, unknown drugs, Grasso risked the lives and welfare of the animals under his care, all in service of helping corrupt racehorse trainers like Banca line their pockets through fraud. These latest convictions demonstrate the commitment of this Office and of our partners at the FBI to hold accountable individuals seeking to profit from animal abuse and deceit.”

In the indictment of Grasso, the government portrayed him as a central figure in a scheme to manufacture, distribute and receive adulterated and misbranded PEDs which were administered to horses. The government charged that Grasso and others delivered and received “at least thousands” of units of PEDs issued by pharmacies pursuant to invalid prescriptions. Banca was among his customers.

According to the indictment, Grasso was also manufacturing and/or selling “epogen,” pain shots of joint blocks, bronchodilators and a substance called “red acid.” Red acid is believed to reduce inflammation in joints.

It appears that Grasso's doping may have been restricted to harness racing as the indictment does not mention any illegal activities that involved Thoroughbred racing.

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Haskoy Connections Lose St Leger Appeal

Haskoy (GB) (Golden Horn {GB}), the filly that crossed the wire second in the G1 Cazoo St Leger and was demoted to fourth for inference, will remain in that position after connections lost their appeal on Tuesday.

The Juddmonte homebred, with Frankie Dettori in the irons, was deemed to have caused interference to Giavellotto (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) of a sufficient nature to place her behind that Marco Botti-trained colt, the raceday stewards determined.

During the appeal hearing, two incidents were looked into by the independent disciplinary panel of the British Horseracing Authority–an incident between the three- and two-furlong poles where the Ralph Beckett-trained filly drifted towards the inside rail, and again later on once jockey Neil Callan had re-balanced Giavellotto and were closing once again. The race was won by Eldar Eldarov (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), with New London (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) promoted to second, Giavellotto third and Haskoy fourth.

Callan said, “About two and a half out I started to make my move and I noticed Mr. Dettori have a glance over his shoulder so I gave him a shout to tell him I was there. I got carried left and ran out of room.

“I lost momentum and had to pick my horse back up after further interference on my outside and then Mr. Dettori drifted back out so I went for the rail again, but half a furlong from home Mr. Dettori switched his whip and his filly leaned in on me again which cost me more ground.”

“I would say that up to half a furlong from home I was giving it 100% and then when the winner passed me half a furlong out and I knew I had the others beat, I was riding at 80%,” said Dettori, who would subsequently serve a five-day suspension for the ride.

“I can't judge Mr. Callan's ride, only my own, but I would disagree that Giavellotto passed me after the line so that means he would otherwise have beaten me. I took the revs off inside the last half furlong because I couldn't win.”

Panel chair Timothy Charlton KC said during the closing statements, “There was considerable interference just before and just after the two-furlong marker which cost Giavellotto a lot of distance and momentum.

“Without that he would have had a traffic-free run to the line and would have begun a serious challenge at that point. Instead, Mr. Callan had to take back sharply to avoid clipping heels which took him into more trouble with Danny Tudhope's mount [French Claim (Fr) (French Fifteen {Fr})] which compounded the loss of balance and momentum suffered from when Haskoy crossed in front of him.

“When Giavellotto returned to the rail he again suffered interference when Haskoy squeezed him up.

“The panel fully recognises the peril of an arithmetical approach to these sort of cases, especially when the interference is so far out, but despite those uncertainties the panel was persuaded that Haskoy's interference prevented Giavellotto from finishing ahead of Haskoy.

“It is the panel's view the deposit should be returned [to the connections of Haskoy] as perfectly respectable arguments were put to us.”

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Letters to the Editor: Gary West On Flightline

I don't think I've ever witnessed such runaway adulation. It was as though the commentators and analysts joined in a competition to see who could erect the highest pile of praise, and when somebody said Flightline might be the greatest horse of all-time–well, it was then that my head struck my desk under the avalanche of hyperbolic plaudits.

And a day later, when his owners announced he would be retired, I immediately realized I couldn't vote for Flightline as Horse of the Year. That's why I'm writing: to explain my position. It comes down to this: I'm not going to reward people–Flightline's ownership group in this case–who put their own interests ahead of the sport's. That's exactly what these owners did. They have the prevailing values of a pocket calculator. When self-interest poses as sport, it's meretricious. Even airbrushed by apologists, it's ugly.

One of the owners, trying to rationalize the decision, said Flightline had nothing left to prove. Really? After just six races, he has nothing left to prove? Did he prove he could transfer his talent to the grass, as did Secretariat and Dr. Fager? Did Flightline prove he could defeat quality competition while carrying 130 or more pounds, as Assault and Spectacular Bid and many other truly great racehorses have done over the years? Did Flightline prove he could successfully take on an international field that included the world's best and most accomplished performers, as did Curlin, Tiznow and Cigar? No, no and no. In truth, Flightline was retired with a great deal left unproven.

When analyzed in a more sober moment, after the sport and its mouthpieces have taken a few of the 12 steps, it becomes clear that Flightline did not prove he's one of the all-time great racehorses. Perhaps he possessed great potential and almost certainly great talent. He might have been the most talented horse based in North America since Ghostzapper. But many horses in recent years have accomplished more, much more, than Flightline. And so he did not prove himself a great racehorse. Nobody can point to an array of Flightline accomplishments that collectively and indisputably shine with that unmistakeable glow of greatness. In the Classic he defeated a very good older horse, Olympiad, and a very good 3-year-old, Taiba, but Flightline's foremost competition, Epicenter, was injured before completing a half-mile. And in the Pacific Classic, Flightline defeated another very good older horse, Country Grammer, who had peaked six months earlier and hadn't won since. Flightline also defeated Speaker's Corner and Happy Saver, of course, but does that make him one of the greatest of all-time?

Nothing left to prove? After only six races? Really? After only four stakes victories? Really? That's either shamefully disingenuous or stunningly stupid.

In my view–and I own horses–an owner has three responsibilities. First and foremost, an owner has a responsibility to the horse; he's responsible for the horse's health and safety and care, but also for giving the athlete the opportunity to fulfill its racing potential. Second, an owner is responsible to the sport itself, its traditions, history and integrity. And an owner is responsible to horse racing's fans, for without them, the sport needs to realize, there's nothing. The owners of Flightline, in my view, betrayed all three responsibilities.

Horse racing and its fan base have been shrinking for many years. The sport, though, treats this as an enigma it doesn't want to solve because, well, truth is painful. But owners and breeders continue to shunt the sport's stars off the stage before they ever have an opportunity to utter their best lines, and with them go fans' loyalties. Flightline is only the latest example.

It just goes on and on and on, this obstinate journey toward self-destruction. Whenever owners yield to avarice and whenever they focus on the sales ring rather than the racetrack, the sport shrinks a little more. And horse racing will continue to shrink into insignificance if its leaders, or so-called leaders, will not sacrifice their personal interests for the sport's good. That's why I cannot and will not vote for Flightline.

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Half-Sister To Bay Bridge Primes For Kempton Bow

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-pedigreed horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Wednesday's Observations features a half-sister to QIPCO British Champions Day hero Bay Bridge (GB) (New Bay {GB}).

17.20 Kempton, Mdn, £6,800, 2yo, f, 7f (AWT)
James Wigan's hitherto unraced homebred STORMY SEA (GB) (Territories {Ire}) is a Sir Michael Stoute-conditioned half-sister to last month's G1 Champion S.-winning stablemate Bay Bridge (GB) (New Bay {GB}). Her eight rivals include Charles Hills trainee Labiqa (Ire) (Muhaarar {GB}), who is out of GSW G1 Prix Jean Prat and G1 Prix du Moulin placegetter Spectre (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}), and Resonance (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}), a daughter of MG1SP G2 Queen Mary S. victrix Maqaasid (GB) (Green Desert), from the Marco Botti stable.

18.30 Kempton, Nov, £9,900, 2yo, 8f (AWT)
Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum's TADSHIN (GB) (Muhaarar {GB}) is a Roger Varian-trained son of G1 Prix de l'Opera and GI Flower Bowl Invitational heroine Nahrain (GB) (Selkirk) and thus a half-brother to MG1SW globetrotter Benbatl (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}). He encounters a baker's dozen in this debut headed by Rabbah Racing's Manxman (Ire) (Cracksman {GB}), who is a Simon and Ed Crisford-trained half-brother to last term's G1 Champion S. second Dubai Honour (Ire) (Pride Of Dubai {Aus}), and Shadwell debutant Mostabshir (GB) (Dark Angel {Ire}), a half-brother to G1 Falmouth S. and G1 Sun Chariot S. victrix Nazeef (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire), representing John and Thady Gosden.

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