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Cobb’s Delaware License Revoked Through 2022

Amber Cobb, the Thoroughbred owner and trainer who had been summarily suspended by the Delaware Park stewards last month after having already served a 60-day penalty earlier in the summer for “improper or inhumane treatment” of a horse, had her license yanked again Thursday for the remaining term of its three-year issuance, through Dec. 31, 2022.

Among the reasons listed in the Oct. 28 revocation ruling by the Delaware Thoroughbred Racing Commission (DTRC) were that Cobb failed to appear at a disciplinary hearing Oct. 22 that had been scheduled in relation to her Sept. 10 summary suspension.

The DTRC ruling also stated that, “Cobb was involved and was still participating in horse racing while under suspension” and that she failed to attend an anger management program as had been directed by the stewards.

Cobb, 33, could not be reached for comment prior to deadline for this story.

Cobb's 60-day suspension earlier this year involved a video recorded by a stable employee back in February in which Cobb shouted at a horse and struck at the animal with a plastic pitchfork, causing the horse to fall.

The Oct. 28 ruling stated that the hearing that Cobb skipped had been scheduled for the purpose of having her “answer to complaints and allegations of past abuse and neglect of horses in her care that did not involve her recent suspension.”

In addition, the ruling stated that “Ms. Cobb failed to get approval by the stewards for bills of sale and horse transfers [for] horses that were in her care remained on the grounds of another trainer during the term of her suspension. Ms. Cobb solicited the services of another licensed Delaware trainer that brought horses on the grounds that were not approved by the stewards.”

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Cobb License Revoked After Stewards Discover Evidence She Violated Suspension

Amber Cobb, who was the center of a controversial ruling by the Delaware Thoroughbred Racing Commission earlier this year, has had her owner and trainer licenses revoked by the Delaware stewards. The licenses had been scheduled to expire Dec. 31, 2022 and the revocation covers the remaining term for which they would have been active.

According to an Oct. 28 ruling, Cobb did not appear at a scheduled hearing before stewards on Oct. 22 to answer complaints about “past abuse and neglect of horses in her care that did not involve her recent suspension by the Delaware Thoroughbred Racing Commission in stewards' ruling 19B-2021.”

Ruling 19B-2021 refers to a two-year suspension Cobb had been given by Delaware stewards in May of this year after they were given a video showing Cobb hitting a 2-year-old unraced filly with a rake while the horse was tied to a stall wall. Cobb was shown shouting at the horse, who scrambled to get away from her and reared, falling to the ground with her head still tied to the wall. Cobb appealed that ruling to the full commission in July, and the regulatory body agreed to shorten the suspension from two years to 60 days.

Learn more about the original case and appeal process in our previous reporting here.

The ruling on Oct. 28 appears to have been in reference to separate incidents from the one at the heart of the case from May.

As her 60 days began winding down, the stewards issued a summary suspension on Sept. 10, citing a new list of alleged rule violations by Cobb, including possession of hypodermic needles and cruelty to horses. Summary suspensions are typically issued when stewards want to limit a licensee's access to sanctioned grounds or the entry box as they await a date for a hearing to consider evidence of a potential rule violation.

According to the Oct. 28 ruling, Cobb did not attend an anger management program as required by the stewards and the commission after the incident with the filly and the rake. Additionally, the stewards wrote that they discovered she had failed to get stewards' approval for bills of sale and horse transfers for horses that had been in her care prior to her suspensions.

“Horses that were in her care remained on the grounds of another trainer during the term of her suspension,” the stewards wrote. “Miss Cobb solicited the services of another licensed Delaware trainer that brought horses on the grounds that were not approved by the stewards. Stewards retained documents that Amber Cobb was involved and was still participating in horse racing while under suspension.

“Pursuant to D.T.R.C. Rule 7.5 Horses Suspended: All horses in the charge of a Trainer whose registration has been revoked or suspended shall not be permitted to race during the period of such Trainer's suspension. Upon application by the Owners of such suspended horses, the Stewards may approve the bona fide transfer of such horses to the care of another registered Trainer and, upon such approved transfer, such horses may be entered to race.”

In the Oct. 28 ruling, stewards cited a number of rules they say Cobb violated, including the state's regulation against cruelty to horses.

The post Cobb License Revoked After Stewards Discover Evidence She Violated Suspension appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Trial Date Set In Animal Cruelty Case Related To Kentucky Boarding Operation

A trial date has been set in the case of Xavier McGrapth, 24, of Versailles, Ky., in an animal cruelty case stemming from a boarding operation he ran. McGrapth faces second degree animal cruelty charges after he was arrested on April 13 of this year. Bourbon District Court Judge Mary Jane Phelps set a pre-trial hearing date for Jan. 26, 2022 with a jury trial scheduled to follow Feb. 24, 2022.

Earlier this year, about two dozen horses were found at a property McGrapth was leasing off Brentsville Road in various states of neglect. Those horses were largely owned by people who lived out of state and had sent horses to McGrapth for breaking and training or foaling/breeding back. Most owners discovered McGrapth's operation through his Facebook posts as McGrapth Breaking and Training and/or Whispering Creek Thoroughbreds.

A criminal complaint was filed earlier this year alleging 13 counts of second-degree animal cruelty, which is a Class A misdemeanor in Kentucky.

The horses were discovered after one locally-based owner dropped by the property McGrapth leased to check on her pregnant mare and discovered two dead horses in a field near the barn. Additional investigation revealed several other horses in poor body condition. In the days and weeks that followed that discovery, owners and local and state investigators struggled to identify and relocate all the horses entrusted to McGrapth's care. Several told the Paulick Report their horses' racing prospects were seriously damaged as a result of neglect suffered in his care.

McGrapth has entered a plea of not guilty in the case.

Read our previous reporting on this case here.

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Letter to the Editor: Bryan Langlois DVM

I, like everyone else who has seen it, was utterly disgusted with not only the video depicting the actions of trainer Amber Cobb against one of the horses but also the almost complete ignorance of the Delaware Racing Commission in reducing her suspension for those actions. How this industry continues to manage to shoot itself in the foot repeatedly is just mind boggling to me. Actions that are as heinous as those displayed by Ms. Cobb require only one action, and that is immediate revocation of her license to train horses anywhere in this industry (or any other equine industry for that matter).

Why it seems so hard for Commissions to do the right thing in banning these bad actors for life is something I will never understand. I am a veterinarian licensed in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. If a video surfaced of me committing those acts, I would not have my license suspended for months or even two years. It would be gone permanently in a heartbeat, and I likely would not have the ability to obtain one in any other state in this country.

What occurred in that video is blatant animal cruelty (something I have been involved in assisting the prosecution of for the last 15 years). It can be looked upon as nothing less and should be dealt with accordingly by both law enforcement and the Racing Commissions. Sadly, that did not happen in the case of the decision of the Delaware Racing Commission.

HISA, if and when it is finally in full effect, will hopefully put an end to this concern once and for all. In the meantime, just because an issue like this occurred in one state does not mean other states that she is licensed in cannot act on their own. Every state in which Ms. Cobb is licensed needs to start the process of immediate revocation of that license. I am fully aware of a person's due process rights and what can happen when racetracks or commissions take away those rights via their actions in some suspensions (the NYRA Bob Baffert case for example). I am also aware that anyone who is accused of or charged with a violation of any kind is entitled to their full due process. I urge the Commissions to due their proper investigation and due diligence on this case, and then render their decision quickly. To me, the only decision that it can be is immediate and permanent revocation of the license.

Another thing I have learned over the years is the true power that we as the public can have in matters before a racing commission. I learned this after the intense pressure put on the PA Racing Commission by so many to get the license of the trainer of a horse named “Silent Ruler” permanently revoked after the horse was found in a state of severe pain and neglect from a non-attended to sesamoid fracture. Therefore, I urge everyone who sees this letter to please write into or contact your State Racing Commission and politely but firmly urge them to not allow this cruelty to continue by revoking Ms. Cobb's license to train horses in that state if she holds one and to not consider granting her one if she does not.

We hear all the time how Commissions and those in the industry want to bring back integrity to the sport. The Delaware Racing Commission has failed miserably at this. It doesn't mean that others must follow that lead.

Bryan Langlois, Past President, PVMA, Board Member, ThoroFan

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