60 Minutes Airs Expose On Horse Racing Doping

The CBS news program “60 Minutes,” which aired Sunday evening included a segment that covered horse racing's worst problems, horses breaking down and dying and the use of performance-enhancing drugs on horses. 60 Minutes often reaches as many as 12 million viewers. The segment was hosted by correspondent Cecilia Vega.

Though the program gave ample time to Jockey Club Chairman Stuart Janney III, Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority CEO Lisa Lazarus, Meadowlands owner Jeff Gural, and others who have been working to solve the problems, it left no doubt that the sport has pressing issues that if left unsolved threaten its existence.

“Horse racing has reached its moment of reckoning and we wanted to know, `can the sport really be reformed or is it too late?'” Vega said.

What followed was a recantation of the rash of fatalities that surrounded the GI Kentucky Derby and other major events, which included graphic footage of horses dying on the track.

“People who are not in your world see this headline of more than a dozen dead horses and they think, `what is going on in that industry?'” Vega asked Lazarus.

“My response is that HISA is here now and we're going to address it,” she said.

She continued: “There's clearly a problem that needs to be addressed and now we have some tools to fight it. We really owe it to those trainers who have spent their lives in this sport who have an incredible amount of integrity to get rid of those who tarnish this sport.”

It was not hard to get industry leaders to admit that doping is a major issue that has yet to be brought under control.

“(Doping) is a big problem,” Janney said. “It strikes at the integrity of the sport. There's nothing about it that is acceptable.”

Asked how the sport can clean itself up, Janney replied: “You put people away. You send them out of the sport and some of them go to jail.”

That very process began in March of 2020 when more than 33 veterinarians, trainers and drug distributors were charged by the Justice Department for using and manufacturing performance-enhancing drugs.

“The FBI said this led to broken legs, cardiac issues and in some cases death,” Vega said.

The show played wiretaps of conversations between convicted trainer Jorge Navarro and a another trainer in which Navarro bragged about how the drugs he was using made his horses run faster.

“I (expletive) gave it to this horse and this horse (expletive) galloped. He galloped,” Navarro said to the unidentified trainer.

“Amino acids?” the other trainer asked.

“Yeah, some amino acid  injectable. Small bottle,” Navarro replied.

They also played wiretaps from harness trainer Nick Surick in which he spoke of how he was put in charge of disposing of horses that Navarro had killed.

The FBI was assisted by 5 Stones Intelligence, which was hired by The Jockey Club and Meadowlands owner Jeff Gural. Janney said 5 Stones was told to not be afraid to go after the biggest names in the sport, like Navarro and Servis.

“I said I'm not interested in you going in an finding a relatively unimportant person working in someone's barn who has made a bet they shouldn't have made or has done something immaterial to what we're talking about,” he said. “I want you to go after the important people that I think are corrupting the sport.”

Before they were arrested, Servis and Navarro were clearly worried they could be caught and that the penalties could ruin their careers. A wiretap caught them saying the following:

Servis: We can't do it in broad daylight, we got to do it like…”

Navarro: “I know. I'll keep it at my…I'll keep…I'll keep it in my car. I ain't worried about that.”

Servis: What about, what I am-I don't want people to see that (expletive). We are dead. We are dead.”

Shaun Richards, who was the lead FBI agent on the case that nabbed Navarro, Jason Servis and others, spoke a hopeful note, that the progress made with the arrests has put investigators, HISA and others on the right trail.

” We're right where we need to be,” he said. “We have a really good subject identified and we are getting fantastic evidence.”

Vega asked Lazarus “How long will it take to clean this up?”

“It will probably take years to be truly confident that we've got a fully clean sport,” she said.

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Servis Sentencing Delayed from May 18 to July 26

The sentencing for barred trainer Jason Servis, the final–and most notoriously prominent–defendant in the 2020 racehorse doping conspiracy scandal, was rescheduled by a judge's order on Thursday, from May 18 to July 26.

The May 4 court order got handed down four years to the date that the Servis-trained Maximum Security (New Year's Day) crossed the finish wire first in the GI Kentucky Derby. The colt was subsequently disqualified for in-race interference.

Unbeknownst to Servis at the time, federal investigators had already begun compiling a trove of wiretapped phone conversations between Servis and other now-convicted horsemen, veterinarians, and pharmaceutical suppliers, 31 of whom were arrested and charged in a series of coordinated law enforcement sweeps in March 2020.

Even after being implicated by other guilty-pleading conspirators, Servis had maintained his innocence and held out for a trial until Dec. 9, 2022.

As part of a negotiated plea deal with the government, he then pled guilty to a felony charge of misbranding and adulterating a chemical substance (described by prosecutors as similar to the bronchodilator clenbuterol but stronger), and to a misdemeanor, of misbranding and adulterating a purportedly performance-enhancing chemical called SGF-1000.

Prosecutors had alleged (and other convicted conspirators had admitted their roles in) Servis's administration of SGF-1000 to Maximum Security during the first half of 2019, when the colt rose from being a $16,000 maiden-claimer to a Grade I winner.

Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil of United States District Court (Southern District of New York) granted the sentencing date change at the request of Servis's attorney.

“I make this request for the following reasons,” attorney Rita Glavin wrote in a May 3 letter to the court. “First, the Apr. 27, 2023, Presentence Investigation Report contains numerous defense objections to certain factual assertions, as well as the Government's responses to the defense objections. Because of (i) the number of disagreements and (ii) the issues around those disagreements, the defense needs additional time to review documents and respond.

“Further, given the extent of the disagreements, the parties have scheduled time to meet and engage in a good faith effort to resolve as many disagreements as possible, such that if there remain disagreements, they can be streamlined and narrowed for the Court.

“Finally, I am lead counsel on another matter proceeding to trial in June 2023, which is why we seek a date later in July,” Glavin wrote.

The presentence investigation report is generally a public document that is available for anyone to access on the court's electronic docket. But the disputed one Servis's attorney referenced was not listed there as of deadline for this story.

Servis, 66, faces four years in prison when he is sentenced.

Prior to his plea deal, Servis had been scheduled to go on trial on two felony counts: Conspiracy to misbrand and adulterate performance-enhancing drugs, and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. He would have faced 25 years in prison on those two counts if convicted.

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FTC Approves HISA’s Anti-Doping And Medication Rule

Edited Press Release

New and enhanced anti-doping regulations took effect in U.S. Thoroughbred horse racing Monday following the Federal Trade Commission's approval of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority's (HISA) Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) Program.

HISA's ADMC Program, administered by the Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit (HIWU), brings all testing and results management under one national authority, standardizes the categories of substances laboratories test for and institutes clear and consistent penalties for violations.

In its authority as the independent administrator of the ADMC Program, HIWU is introducing to the sport a new paperless sample collection system, strategic out-of-competition testing nationwide and centralized adjudication processes to facilitate swift rulings.

“Having a uniform anti-doping program in place for the first time ever will be a game changer for American horse racing,” said HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus. “HISA's ADMC Program is the modern, rigorous yet fair regulatory framework the sport deserves. Its rules, philosophical approach and professional implementation will help ensure the integrity of the competition and demonstrate the seriousness of the industry's commitment to equine welfare.”

HIWU is led by Executive Director Ben Mosier. Among other members of HIWU's leadership team are experts with decades of experience working in anti-doping, including in Thoroughbred racing, as well as in federal law enforcement.

“The HIWU team is proud to partner with HISA in the administration of the ADMC Program, which represents a major advancement in how the sport governs anti-doping enforcement,” said Mosier. “HIWU has been working with state racing commissions and racing participants for months to educate all the sport's stakeholders on the new rules, including through in-person and virtual presentations and the library of resources on our website. I am grateful to all who are working with us, particularly the local sample collection personnel, laboratories and other officials operating under the new uniform procedures now in place.”

The ADMC Program's Prohibited Substances List is divided into two categories: 1) Banned Substances that are never permitted in a horse and 2) Controlled Medications that are permitted outside specified periods. Horses will now be tested for these substances following races as well as outside competition windows through an intelligence-based testing system developed by HIWU. The ADMC Program incorporates internationally recognized standards set by organizations including the Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI), World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI).

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act, passed into federal law by a bipartisan act of Congress, grants HISA jurisdiction over all Thoroughbred horse races in the U.S. that are the subject of interstate off-track or advance deposit wagers.

The ADMC Program is the second of HISA's two regulatory programs to be implemented. HISA's Racetrack Safety Program, which established uniform operational safety rules and racetrack accreditation standards, took effect upon receiving approval from the FTC on July 1, 2022.

National HBPA Statement in Response to ADMC Rules Approval

The National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association released a statement in response to the FTC's approval the Anti-Doping and Medication Control rules, while also committing to filing a motion to stop the rules from going into effect.

“The Authority is barreling forward to implement HISA, and the FTC is enabling it by rubber-stamping another set of seriously flawed rules,” said National HBPA President Doug Daniels, DVM. “Industry concerns must be taken into account, and we believe no one at the FTC is listening. That's why the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled HISA unconstitutional in our lawsuit. Without our efforts, I fear for our future. Today, we plan to file a motion with the Northern District of Texas court asking the judge immediately to stop these rules from going into effect.”

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HISA Issues Updated Withdrawal Guidance For Phenylbutazone

The Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) program has proposed enforcing the screening limit of phenylbutazone at 300 ng/mL in blood, rather than the previously established screening limit of 200 ng/mL in blood. HISA will file Guidance with the Federal Trade Commission that will implement this change in the enforcement of the screening limit. The RMTC's Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) has been asked by industry stakeholders to review its withdrawal guidance of phenylbutazone based upon the updated proposed screening limit. Based on the updated screening limit of 300 ng/mL in blood and a single IV dose of 4.4 mg/kg, the SAC has reviewed all available data and is now recommending an updated withdrawal guidance of 72 hours for phenylbutazone. The RMTC's Withdrawal Guidance of HISA's ADMC Detection Times document will reflect those changes.

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