Report: Navarro Had Judge’s Authorization For Ocala Move, ‘Shall Have No Contact’ With Racehorses

Trainer Jorge Navarro, one of the defendants in a federal case based around alleged doping of racehorses, received approval this week to move to Ocala, Fla. According to the Thoroughbred Daily News, an order from U.S. Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil would allow Navarro to reside in Ocala and travel to South Florida to meet with his attorney or specific family members.

The order also states he “shall have no contact whatsoever with racehorses.”

On Thursday, this publication released an investigative report on program trainers which included a look at Tomahawk Racing Stable, a new ownership entity in South Florida which has exclusively run horses with previous ties to Navarro's barn. Gulfstream Park officials say they have monitored the transfer of all former Navarro-trained or owned horses carefully, and that Navarro is not training horses on-site at its facilities.

Ocala is home to a number of private training centers which do not fall under the jurisdiction of state racing regulators or racetrack ownership. Although those facilities are permitted to post official workouts to a horse's record through Equibase, there is often no oversight on who is handling or conditioning horses based at such facilities.