JDG: Rossis Indicted, Banned From Racing During Investigation

In custody since Tuesday morning, Charley Rossi and his wife Jessica Marcialis; Rossi's brother, Cedric; and their uncle Frederic Rossi, were brought before the investigating judge in Aix-en-Provence, France, Thursday, along with the manager of Frederic Rossi's stable and a veterinarian. The six were indicted and placed under judicial control, according to the Jour de Galop. They emerged from the court Thursday around 4 p.m., and have been forbidden to participate in racing, or to be on the grounds of a racetrack or training center during the indictment, according to a press release from the public prosecutor.

The JDG reported that the indictment for this type of charge could last as long as a year while the investigation continues, and said that in total, the three had approximately 200 horses in training at their Calas training center in Marseille.

The paper ran the following statement from the prosecutor's office: “Following a tip, a preliminary investigation for equine doping and fraud committed by an organized group was handed over to the Service Central des Courses et Jeux (SCCJ) (the central service of racing and gaming), a specialized service of the judicial police in the Aix-en-Provence prosecutors office. The first investigations have allowed them to confirm the information described, including several racehorse trainers and veterinarians. On September 10, 2021, the public prosecutor's office in Aix-en-Provence opened a judicial investigation into the leaders of the group, (who were) administering to the horses substances of a nature to artificially modify their capabilities. The investigation led by the rogatory commission from the racing and gaming police have revealed numerous facts of equine doping and the manipulation of racing as part of a concerted organization. This concerns a large group of around 30 races. An operation carried out in several locations allowed the SCCJ, aided by the South Judicial Police and veterinarians from the national horse racing federation to question a dozen people. This gave rise to the seizure of 10 racehorses as well as funds from the bank accounts of the people in question. At the end of their custody, the examining magistrate in charge of the investigations had decided to refer six people. In accordance with the requirements of prosecution, they were indicted and placed under judicial review, and are forbidden from being present on racetracks and training centers and from exercising any profession related to horse racing.”

The JDG quoted “numerous sources” which reported the “no molecule” of any new or illegal doping agents had been found.

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Writers’ Room Tackles Medina Spirit News, Baffert, Ortiz Suspension

It was a busy news week, headlined by the unfortunate sudden death of GI Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit (Protonico) and the 30-day suspension handed down to leading rider Irad Ortiz, Jr. Wednesday morning, Joe Bianca, Bill Finley and Jon Green of the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland discussed and reacted to all of it, rekindled the debate over whether trainer Bob Baffert is good for the sport, and welcomed the director of the upcoming film “Jockey” as the Green Group Guest of the Week.

“A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a story about two state legislators in New York looking to take all the slot money away from NYRA, and last year it was the governor of Pennsylvania,” Finley said. “Every time something like [Medina Spirit's death] happens, it makes their case stronger. And you know what? I bet you there are some politicians in California right now that are thinking, maybe it's time to introduce a bill to ban horse racing in the state. I think a lot of people don't think this will ever happen. It's not going to happen tomorrow or the next day, and it may not ever happen, but you have to be very scared of this. It is a realistic threat. Fifteen years ago, if I suggested that the circus would no longer exist, it would have been laughable to think about something like that.”

Elsewhere on the show, which is also sponsored by Coolmore, West Point Thoroughbreds, XBTV and Legacy Bloodstock, the hosts asked whether Ortiz will become a more careful rider after his suspension and the outcry that followed two incidents he was involved in over the weekend, and reacted to the news of the police arresting members of the Rossi family in France in an alleged doping and race-fixing conspiracy. Click here to watch the podcast; click here for the audio-only version or find it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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Trainers Frederic, Cedric Rossi Among Group Arrested On Horse Doping Charges In France

Four members of the prominent Rossi racing family were taken into police custody in France this Tuesday on charges of horse doping and forgery, reports the Thoroughbred Daily News. Trainers Cedric Rossi, Frederic Rossi, and Charley Rossi were among those arrested, as well as Charley's wife, jockey Jessica Marcialis.

A group of approximately 15 individuals, including veterinarians, were taken into custody from the the Marseille and Paris regions. Police have subsequently searched the Calas training center based on months' worth of surveillance and phone tapping.

Cedric Rossi trains this year's Group 1 QIPCO Champion Stakes winner Sealiway, though the horse had previously been trained by Frederic Rossi to a win in the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere and a fifth-place finish in the 2020 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf.

This year, Cedric Rossi saddled Rougir to win the Group 1 Prix de l'Opera and a seventh-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf. On Saturday, Rougir sold at the Arqana Breeding Stock sale for a record €3 million (about US$3.37 million) to Peter Brant, while the Cedric Rossi-trained Purplepay brought €2 million (about US$2.25 million) from Lael Stable.

Read more at the Thoroughbred Daily News.

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Police Raid Rossi Stables In Marseille

The stables of Group 1-winning trainers Frederic, Cedric and Charley Rossi were subjected to police raids in Marseille on Tuesday morning, according to a report by Le Parisien newspaper. Charley Rossi and his wife, the jockey Jessica Marcialis, are reported to have been arrested at the Calas training centre. It is believed that Frederic and Cedric Rossi were also taken away by police.

The four are reportedly among a larger group of around 15 people from the Marseille and Paris regions, including at least one vet, to have been detained by police as part of an ongoing investigation into equine doping and race fixing.

French racing and bloodstock daily Jour de Galop (JDG) has reported that a judicial investigation has been opened and quotes the deputy prosecutor at the Aix-en-Provence prosecutor's office, Olivier Poulet, as saying that a 10-month investigation led to Tuesday's arrests and police search of the training centre.

“The two offences are organised cheating (for rigged horse races) and the administration of doping substances to horses participating in races,” Poulet told the JDG. “For this type of offence, police custody can last four days. The presentation before the judge of those in police custody is scheduled for next Thursday. At this point, we cannot divulge their identity.”

JDG also reports that a number of horses and their documentation have been seized by police from all three stables. The Charley Rossi-trained Droit De Parole (Ire) (Toronado {Ire}) was withdrawn from Tuesday's Quinté at Chantilly.

The Rossi family has long been at the forefront of racing in the south of France. Frederic's father Henri Rossi was a leading jockey before becoming a trainer. Frederic and his elder brother Jacques both followed in his footsteps. Jacques, who is no longer training, is president of the Societe Hippique de Marseille, which oversees racing at the two local courses of Borely and Pont-de-Vivaux as well as the Calas training centre, which is home to 27 trainers. Jacques is the father of Cedric and Charley Rossi.

The family has gained wider prominence in world racing in recent years. In 2020, Frederic Rossi, who also has a satellite stable in Chantilly, trained his first Classic winner, the G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches victrix Dream And Do (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}), as well as G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere winner Sealiway (Fr) (Galiway {GB}). The Arc meeting of 2020 proved a highly successful one for the family, as Charley Rossi landed the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac with Tiger Tanaka (Ire) (Clodovil {Ire}), handing Jessica Marcialis a memorable first Group 1 win in the saddle. Third in that same race was Rougir (Fr) (Territories {Ire}), trained by his brother, who would go on to star on the same weekend this year when winning the G1 Prix de l'Opera. Italian-born Marcialis is the sister of former Chantilly trainer Andrea Marcialis, who in March was banned from racing until 2025 having been found guilty of a number of charges including medication violations and running a training operation under the name of another trainer.

On Saturday, Rougir topped the Arqana Breeding Stock Sale in Deauville when sold to White Birch Farm and Coolmore's MV Magnier at a record-breaking €3 million. Shortly before that, the 2-year-old Purplepay (Fr) (Zarak {Fr}), also trained by Cedric Rossi, fetched €2 million and will race on in America for Lael Stable.

Dream And Do has not raced since her Classic success but was sold privately last year to Katsumi Yoshida of Japan's Northern Farm. Tiger Tanaka went through the ring at last week's Tattersalls December Mares' Sale, selling for 450,000gns.

Sealiway was switched from the stable of Frederic to Cedric Rossi this summer and went on to run fifth in the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe before winning the G1 QIPCO Champion S. He remains in training and may be aimed at the Saudi Cup in February.

French racing's governing body France Galop released a statement on Tuesday afternoon which read, “France Galop is following very closely the development of the ongoing investigations made public today and has no comments to make at this stage.

“France Galop has the responsibility of ensuring the regularity of races. In this context, it cooperates closely and regularly with the racing centres and the sports division of the National Police.

“The fight against doping is an absolute priority for the racing industry, which devotes an annual budget of €10 million euros to [this cause]. Thus, the equine sector carries out nearly 30,000 anti-doping tests per year, at the races, for horses in and out of training, and in the breeding sector.”

Frederic Rossi is currently lying in fifth in the French trainers' table for 2021 with 94 winners, and Cedric Rossi is in tenth place.

None of the horses in question are known to have tested positive for any banned substance.

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