Trainer Ari Herbertson has entered a plea of no contest in Alameda Superior Court to one count of sexual penetration by a foreign object in connection with an assault case brought against him in 2020.
Herbertson did not saddle any more runners after his 2020 arrest, though he did resume training this year. He has not had any more starters at Golden Gate Fields. His training license with the California Horse Racing Board remains active and does not expire until the end of this year.
“We cannot just suspend someone's license based on arrest or allegation,” said CHRB spokesman Mike Marten. “When a criminal investigation is taking place, especially on an incident that occurs off the track, we do not interfere with the local investigation and prosecution but assist in any way we can. We monitor the process, as we did in this case from the beginning, and if and when there is a conviction, we obtain the appropriate documents and determine whether we can file a complaint alleging a rule violation, which we are doing now. In other words, we cannot just take someone's license without a hearing and the criminal part always goes before the administrative one.”
Herbertson started 59 runners in 2021 and 25 in 2020 at Fresno, Emerald Downs, and Turf Paradise.
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