Judge in Navarro, Servis Case Denies Motion to Recuse

Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York angrily dismissed a motion from attorneys representing defendants in the wide-ranging doping scandal involving Jason Servis and Jorge Navarro that she recuse herself from the case. The lawyers had brought up conflict of interest concerns because she was the co-breeder of two horses that competed a total of four times against horses trained by  Navarro and Servis between 2006 and 2009.

Vyskocil lashed out at the lawyers Friday, calling the motion “frivolous” and “meritless.”

“This meritless motion appears to be calculated to divert attention from the serious crimes with which the defendants have been accused and to obstruct and delay the orderly administration of the case,” she said. “The motion is denied as frivolous, an obvious tactful gambit to delay the determination of the defendants' motion to dismiss.”

Vyskocil's comments came during a status conference held Friday morning. The conference was intended to update attorneys from both sides on the status of discovery evidence and to pin down a date for trail. But the first 15 minutes or so of the conference involved only the motion to recuse and Vyskocil's forceful retort.

“The bad-faith motion is frivolous and was clearly calculated to generate diversionary press coverage, which it clearly already has,” Vyskocil said. “The motion contained multiple, plainly false statements which officers of the court should not have made in a public filing and which are not entitled to be dignified with point-by-point commentary.”

Equibase records list Vyskocil, a former member of New York Thoroughbred Breeders Inc., as the co-breeder, along with Barry Ostrager, of horses who had faced Servis and Navarro trainees during their careers. The defendants argued that because of her role in the industry Vyskocil could be biased and should step down. She was never listed as the owner or co-owner of the horses in question.

“There is no conflict here and no reasonable person would perceive one,” she said.

The case has slowly worked its way through the system since March, 2020 when indictments were announced against 27 individuals for their role in a scheme to dope horses with performance-enhancing drugs. Vyskocil made it clear that she was eager for the matter to proceed and head to trail. She called for the defendants to be divided into three separate groups with the trial for the first group to commence during the fourth quarter of 2021 with the other two trials set to begin early next year.

“We need this case to be moving toward a trial,” she said.

The possibility of superceding indictments that would include additional charges for those already indicted or, perhaps, charge individuals not yet named was discussed. Vyskocil addressed that possibility with Andrew Adams, the lead prosecutor in the case, who did not give a precise answer.

“With respect to new people who may or may not be added , as I have said all along, as the government continues to investigate this case and to investigate other related cases, there may well be other people who are charged,” Adams said.  “There may be co-conspirators in this case, but the government would not expect that somebody added to the case today would be on the same schedule as the people who have been in the case. But that, again, would have no impact on the defendants that are currently in the case…It's also speculative. It is not our intention to announce a superceder next week or next month. As we sit here today I am not able to say that we are certainly or even likely to add charges in this case. It is all speculation and it need not delay moving the case forward.”

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French Trainer Banned Until 2025, Faces Criminal Charges For Horse Doping

Italian-born, Group 1-winning Thoroughbred trainer Andrea Marcialis has been banned by France Galop until April of 2025 for three counts of horse doping and two counts of running a shadow training operation, reports the Racing Post. The trainer also faces criminal charges on counts of doping horses, organized crime, and forgery, with his actions spanning at least 31 races.

An incident at Saint-Cloud on Aug. 31, 2020 initiated the police investigation. Marcialis was reported to racecourse officials after being seen carrying a syringe from the car park. His two runners that day were tested before and after their races. One, Bosioh, returned a positive in the pre-race urine sample, but was negative post-race. France Galop still issued a ban for the incident, noting that “the facts being sufficient to establish and constitute an act of deliberate doping on a racecourse.”

The other two doping counts for which Marcialis received bans involved six horses who received injections without prior consultation from a vet and without prescription, and the administration of corticosteroids to four more horses within three days of them racing.

Marcialis' suspensions for shadow training operations included two separate instances. The first was for his role in running horses under the name of an 80-year-old trainer, Jean-Claude Napoli, with the help of his sister, Elisabetta, and the second was for shadow training under the name of Chantilly-based Russian licence holder, Igor Endaltsev.

Read more at racingpost.com.

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Contaminated Feed Leads To Doping Violations; British Governing Bodies Instate Moratorium

Contaminated molasses was sent from South Africa to Ireland and the United Kingdom, where it was sent to several equine feed companies that used it in their feed production. The molasses, supplied by ED & F Man Ltd, contained Zilpaterol Hydrochloride. Zilpaterol Hydrochloride is considered a banned substance by the British Equestrian Federation (BEF) and the British Horseracing Authority.

Horses that ingested the feed made with contaminated molasses received positive drug tests. Zilpaterol Hydrochloride is a feed additive used in the United States; it is primarily used to promote weight gain in cattle. Zilpaterol isn't harmful to horses, but it isn't approved for use in Europe.

The BEF Board has instated a 14-day moratorium on Zilpaterol positives; any horse that tests for the substance will not be subject to any regulatory action for breaking the anti-doping rules if the positive is consistent with the contaminated feed. The British Horseracing Authority gave a seven-day moratorium for racing; any horse with a Zilpaterol positive will also not be subject to regulatory action, if the sample is consistent with feed contamination.

Elective testing of horses has shown that the contaminated feed clears the horse's system in four days; investigations are ongoing to confirm the withdrawal period.

Horses competing in competitions not regulated by the BEF or BHA are subject to the testing and rules of that governing body.

For a list of contaminated feed and more information, click here.

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NY Harness Trainer Suspended 20 Years for Blood Doping

The New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) on Sept. 21 suspended Standardbred trainer Michael Temming for 20 years after two of his horses tested positive for a blood doping agent in a pair of December 2019 races at Yonkers Raceway.

The Paulick Report first reported the story, describing the drug involved as IOX-2, a stabilizer of hypoxia-inducible factor, which is known as a blood and gene doping agent.

TDN reported back in January that when the New York Equine Drug Testing Program announced the detection of this drug in Temming’s horses, the findings were “believed to be the first–either in horse racing or the worldwide WADA network of testing labs–to screen for and confirm the presence of IOX-2, an IHF stabilizer that can trigger EPO-like effects as well as overall stimulation of an athlete.”

At Monday’s hearing prior to the 5-0 commissioners’ vote to suspend the trainer and disqualify the horses, NYSGC executive director Robert Williams read Temming’s adjudication into the record as such:

“The commission issued a notice of suspension and hearing on harness trainer Michael Temming on Jan. 21, 2020, composing a summary suspension for violation of the trainer responsibility rule, and a rule against doping agents or drugs, including blood doping agents.

“Specifically, two horses trained by Mr. Temming were found in post-race testing to have had blood-doping agent known as IOX-2 present in their systems. These violations were also alleged to have established that Mr. Temming lacked the character and fitness required to hold a harness racing license….

“The hearing, initially adjourned at Mr. Temming’s request, was finally conducted on July 15, 2020. The hearing officer found that the violations were established, and that Mr. Temming’s license should be suspended for 20 years,” Williams concluded.

Chairman Barry Sample said the commissioners voted unanimously to sustain the hearing officer’s report and recommendations, and the NYSGC commissioners additionally disqualified the horses.

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