Author: News

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) on Wednesday called on the Stronach Group to clarify its plan to close Golden Gate Fields racetrack in Berkeley, California.

“As you have noted, your decision will have profound impacts on the livelihoods of the permanent and race-day employees at Golden Gate Fields as well as regional horse owners, trainers, jockeys, and stable personnel that consider it their home track,” Feinstein wrote.

“I appreciate the steps the Stronach Group has taken in recent years to address equine safety and welfare concerns at your tracks and for your ongoing operation of Santa Anita Park. Nevertheless, your decision to close Golden Gate Fields will affect many California residents and merits further explanation.”

Full text of the letter follows:

July 26, 2023

Ms. Belinda Stronach
Chairman and President
The Stronach Group

Dear Ms. Stronach,

Following the announcement last week that you will close the Golden Gate Fields racetrack, I write seeking clarification of your transition plans, including disposition of the land and stadium.

Golden Gate Fields has hosted horse racing since 1941 and is the last remaining full-time horse racing track in Northern California. As you have noted, your decision will have profound impacts on the livelihoods of the permanent and race-day employees at Golden Gate Fields as well as regional horse owners, trainers, jockeys, and stable personnel that consider it their home track. The impending closure has prompted many questions that I request your help in answering:

• What is your rationale for closing Golden Gate Fields and why did you choose December 2023 as the closure date?
• Will you help employees of Golden Gate Fields find other work in the horseracing industry or elsewhere? If so, which employees and how? Will you offer them positions at the other racetracks you operate?
• What are the plans for the land?
• How will the closure impact the other track you operate at Santa Anita Park?

I appreciate the steps the Stronach Group has taken in recent years to address equine safety and welfare concerns at your tracks and for your ongoing operation of Santa Anita Park. Nevertheless, your decision to close Golden Gate Fields will affect many California residents and merits further explanation.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Dianne Feinstein
United States Senator

The post Feinstein Seeks Clarification From Stronach Group On Planned Closure Of Golden Gate Fields appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Since the Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit (HIWU) took over drug testing and drug rules enforcement in most of American racing in May, the organization's website has become a hub for publication of pending violations and resolutions. If your local racetrack has a trainer on the list of horsemen provisionally suspended for an anti-doping violation, though, it's possible you may have seen the trainer on the rail as though everything's normal.

Alan Pincus represents provisionally-suspended Parx Racing trainers Mario Dominguez and Joseph Taylor, who multiple sources have confirmed have been in the barn area at the Bensalem, Pa., track since receiving provisional suspensions for alleged anti-doping violations. Taylor is on provisional suspension from HIWU after his runners Classy American and Cajun Cousin tested positive for methylphenidate and clenbuterol in June. Dominguez is on provisional suspension after his horse Petulant Delight tested positive for cobalt in late May.

Pincus said that his understanding from HIWU is that a provisional suspension from the organization has no impact on a trainer's state license status, which means that as far as the state is concerned, that person is not banned from the grounds. The penalty comes from the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, which mandates the trainer may not work or enter a Covered Horse in a race.

When asked for a statement by the Paulick Report on Wednesday, HISA representatives told the publication they expected to issue clarification on the rules for provisionally-suspended persons on July 27.

Trainers can be in the barn area and can observe horses training, but can't jog or gallop the horse themselves or enter them in a race, Pincus said.

“They can do it. I don't particularly recommend it because you don't want to run afoul of [HISA],” said Pincus.

“The state doesn't care; their licenses are good.”

Instead, Pincus said he suggests his clients move their horses to West Virginia, Louisiana, or Texas – states where a restraining order is in place, pending the results of a federal lawsuit, preventing HISA or HIWU from enforcing their regulations. Most owners prefer to keep their horses near to their existing base, he said, so many of them are transferring horses to other trainers' names.

Pincus admits it would be challenging to prove whether a trainer was giving feedback on a horse's workouts or providing instructions to former staff in a way that would resemble training. Still, he believes provisional suspensions are dealing a hard blow to trainers because they're removing the trainer's ability to enter in races. Many racing fans may point out that this allows for program training, which was a problem under the previous state-regulated enforcement of medication rules. In 2016, the Paulick Report published an investigation that revealed trainer Marcus Vitali was accessing the backstretch at Gulfstream Park with a visitor's pass while he was unlicensed and his former runners were in the name of someone else. Sources say Vitali was giving instructions to staff while horses worked out in gear bearing his initials. He was eventually excluded from the track.

Still, Pincus said HIWU's provisional suspensions are hugely punishing to trainers, since in anti-doping cases they come prior to the return of a split sample test. In the case of McLean Robertson, Pincus noted that he was provisionally suspended for an altrenogest positive but a split sample cleared him after the testing lab was unable to confirm the original finding. Robertson's last starter was July 2 and he has horses entered July 29, so he missed nearly one month.

In the case of Dominguez, Pincus said the expense of adjudication was a factor in his decision not to contest the provisional suspension in a hearing. According to Pincus, trainers are told they are liable for half the cost of the proceedings, but could be liable for the other half and the expense of HISA's attorneys, which they wouldn't be told until the end of the proceedings. For some, that's too great a financial risk.

Pincus said Dominguez's cobalt case was based on an initial test result of 33 parts per billion in blood – an amount that under ARCI guidelines would have generated a warning but no violation in some states prior to HIWU.

Then, Pincus said, there's the possibility that some of the cases published by HIWU thus far are the result of contamination – an argument that has been made by several horsemen so far. Pincus also represents John T. Brown and Dennis VanMeter, both of whom were issued anti-doping violations for isoxsuprine. Pincus said Brown had a prescription for a pony horse to be on isoxsuprine and VanMeter shipped a horse into a stall in Brown's barn that had previously been occupied by the pony. Brown has accepted an 18-month suspension and $12,500 and shortly thereafter entered a horse at Mountaineer Park in West Virginia.

Pincus said he believes “VanMeter will succeed” in his attempt to have the anti-doping charge dropped due to contamination. (VanMeter was also issued a controlled medication violation for phenylbutazone in Templement, the same horse who tested positive for isoxsuprine.)

“They're finding little, formerly 15 to 30-day suspension substances and giving you two years,” he said. “Show me the EPO, show me the etorphine. Show me the cheating drugs.

“We're in unknown territory. Trainers used to be happy when they'd win a race. Now they're scared to death.”

The post Attorney: Under HIWU Regulations, Trainers On Provisional Anti-Doping Suspensions Can Still Visit The Barn appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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