$800k Sales Grad at Center of Delaware ‘Neglect’ Ruling

A 5-year-old Thoroughbred who auctioned for $800,000 as a yearling is at the center of a “neglect of a horse” case out of Delaware Park.

In an Aug. 12 ruling, the stewards at Delaware stated that owner/trainer Alison Escobar disregarded multiple veterinary recommendations by continuing to exercise Ashiham (Tapit), a one-for-eight horse who has changed stables twice after being sold at Keeneland in 2018. Ashiham's lone victory came at Saratoga in 2020 for different connections.

“The Stewards were concerned for the health and welfare of Ashiham,” the ruling stated in handing down Escobar's $2,500 fine and 60-day suspension. He will also have to pass a training competency test as a condition of relicensure.

At deadline for this story, it was unclear if Escobar plans an appeal. Efforts to reach him for his side of the story were not successful.

Escobar, a 43-year-old with 779 career wins, has been a Grade I-winning trainer in Puerto Rico since 2005. He took out his license in the United States in 2019, and won his first stateside stakes in 2021 at Monmouth Park.

The Delaware stewards laid out this timeline in their ruling, noting that Escobar waived his right to legal counsel at his Aug. 11 hearing:

“1. Ashiham, trained by Alison Escobar was a Vet observed scratch during prerace examination at Tampa Bay Downs on April 21, 2022, for lameness and heat in the left front flexor tendon, and was placed on the Tampa Bay Downs Vets' List. In testimony, trainer Escobar stated Ashiham was sore but did not want the horse scratched because he was the morning-line favorite.

“2. Ashiham worked on June 9, 2022, at Palm Meadows (Florida). Florida Regulatory Veterinarian Dr. Jane Teichner observed the horse lame on his left front on the while the horse was on the track surface after the work.

“3. Dr. Teichner contacted Mr. Escobar's practicing Veterinarian Dr. Rendon concerning Ashiham. In a follow-up text message from Dr. Rendon to Gulfstream Chief Regulatory Veterinarian Dr. Aponte, Dr. Rendon stated in his medical opinion that Ashiham's injury was career ending.

“4. Dr. Teichner reported Ashiham to Gulfstream Chief Regulatory Veterinarian Dr. Aponte, who placed Ashiham on the Gulfstream Park Vet's list as Vet Observed and required an ultra-sound before any workout was scheduled. No ultra-sound was ever taken.

“5. On July 12, 2022, Ashiham arrived by van from Palm Meadows (Florida) to Delaware Park. No foal papers were ever turned into the Racing Office as required by the Delaware Thoroughbred Racing Commission Rule 7.3.4

“6. On August 3, 2022, D.T.R.C. Safety Steward Eric Coatrieux requested the DTRC Veterinarian Annie Renzetti inspect the horse Ashiham after Eric observed Ashiham lame on the track with a significant bowed left tendon.

“7. On August 3, 2022, Dr. Renzetti observed Ashiham significantly lame on a scale of 4/5 and a bow on the left front flexor tendon that was warm to the touch and sore on palpitation. Dr. Renzetti placed Ashiham on the DTRC Vets' List requiring an immediate diagnostic testing including ultra-sound and stall rest until reevaluated by Commission Veterinarians.

“8. Trainer Escobar stated in testimony that Ashiham was not under the care of a practicing Vet and had not been observed at Delaware Park by a Veterinarian prior to the Stewards hearing.”

The stewards cited rules pertaining to trainer responsibility and “cruelty to a horse or neglect of a horse entrusted to a permittee's care” in meting out the penalties. They also stated that “Trainer Escobar failed to follow veterinarian medical recommendations after being placed on two separate Vet's list.”

Escobar's suspension is to start Aug. 19, unless he secures a stay via appeal. All horse transfers out of his stable must be approved by the Delaware stewards. Ashiham's current owner is Tres Potrillos Ranch Inc.

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Raased Gives Escobar First American Stakes Win In Oceanport Stakes At Monmouth

Trainer Alison Escobar has waited three years for his first stakes win in the United States, but the trainer didn't have to sweat it out when it finally happened.

Raased, the overwhelming favorite in a reduced field when the race was taken off the turf, glided across the slop at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J., on Sunday to capture the $100,000 Oceanport Stakes by 19¼ lengths.

For Escobar, who has won 11 graded stakes races in Puerto Rico, the victory in the 74th edition of the Oceanport Stakes was his first since he started training in the United States in 2019.

“It feels very good,” he said. “I have won many stakes races in Puerto Rico, but to get the first one here feels great.”

Ridden by Heriberto Figueroa, Raased tracked Island Commish through early fractions of :23.56 for the opening quarter and :47.39 to the half. The 5-year-old son of Tapit then took off, leaving his three rivals in the lurch. The winning time for the mile and a sixteenth was 1:44.43.

Raased, who won his only other slop start at Monmouth Park by 10½ lengths against allowance company on May 30, returned $2.40 to win. Crown and Sugar was second, 6¼ lengths in front of Island Commish.

“I had 100 percent confidence in this horse whether it stayed on the turf or was in the slop and off the grass,” said Figueroa. “But when they changed to the dirt and it was sloppy, I knew I had a really big chance, especially in a four-horse field. He loves the slop. So I was happy when they changed it.

“I was just waiting behind Island Commish. (Raased) started running by himself. He just took off. You could tell he loved the slop by the way he was running.”

The victory also marked Figueroa's first stakes win at Monmouth Park since he moved his tack here from California.

Raased, owned by Candido Esquivel, has three wins and a second from his five career starts, with his only off-the-board finish in the Grade 3 Poker Stakes on the turf at Belmont Park in his previous start.

“I felt very excited when the race came off the turf,” said Escobar, who has 760 career victories. “He has won on the turf. He broke his maiden on the turf. But he really likes the slop. He's a good horse. He runs on any surface. He has shown us that. The horse is good quality.”

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Earlier on the card, jockey Isaac Castillo escaped with only a sprained right knee when his mount, Chublicious, broke down during the 10th race, according to Dr. Angelo Chinnici, the track's medical director. Castillo, third in the Monmouth Park jockey standings with 33 wins, was treated and released and said he expects to resume riding this week.

In addition, jockey Gerardo Corrales, injured in Saturday's Tyro Stakes when his horse, Vodka N Water, clipped heels with a rival, is scheduled for a follow-up exam on his sprained right shoulder on Wednesday and said he expects to resume riding sometime next week if he is cleared to do so by doctors.

The post Raased Gives Escobar First American Stakes Win In Oceanport Stakes At Monmouth appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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