drew mollica | Horse Racing Free Tips

Ward Hit With 15-Day Suspension For Monmouth Positives

Trainer Wesley Ward has begun serving a 15-day suspension after a horse he trained tested positive for the substances naproxen and metformin following a July 15, 2022, race at Monmouth. Ward's suspension began June 23 and ends July 7. He was also fined $2,000.

The Paulick Report was first with the story.

The infraction occurred in a five-furlong maiden special weight race on the turf with the gelding Insanity It Seems (Tale of the Cat), who won by 2 1/4 lengths. The horse, who is also owned by Ward, has not run back since.

Ward said he did not consider filing an appeal.

“What are you going to do?” he said. “When you appeal and go down that road things can get tough and you wind up paying a lot in lawyer bills.”

Because there were positives for two drugs, the penalties could have been more harsh, but, according to co-counsel Drew Mollica, the Monmouth stewards concluded that the presence of metformin in and of itself did not warrant a significant fine or suspension.

“The science proved that the metformin was at such a trace amount that they concluded there were mitigating circumstances,” said Mollica, who was co-counsel along with Darrell Vienna. “They took into account that metformin was a derivative of contamination. The penalty is indicative of the finding that only the naproxen was an issue and that the metformin was a result of contamination. Without the mitigation, the penalty could have been much harder. So we are appreciative of the New Jersey Commission paying attention to the science and buying into our argument.”

Naproxen, also known as the over-the-counter analgesic Aleve, is a regulated anti-inflammatory drug. According to the website Equimed.com, it can be used in horses to treat lameness, musculoskeletal pain from soft tissue injury, muscle soreness and bone and joint problems. Metformin is a human drug prescribed for type II diabetes. In horses, it may be prescribed if a horse cannot exercise due to laminitis, or if insulin levels are very high.

Ward said he did not know how the naproxen got into the horse's system.

“I shipped to Monmouth to another trainer's barn and his staff ran the horse for me,” he said. “He's a great friend of mine and when the results came back, I was surprised to hear what happened. I know the rules are rules and the stewards have to do what they have to do. I'm just going to try to keep doing the best I can.”

The Monmouth race marked the second time Ward has had a positive for metformin. His Averly Jane (Midshipman) tested positive for the drug in the April 28, 2021 Kentucky Juvenile S. at Churchill Downs. That offense resulted in a 15-day suspension.

The post Ward Hit With 15-Day Suspension For Monmouth Positives appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Pennsylvania Commission Rescinds Ness Penalties From ’22

The Pennsylvania State Horse Racing Commission (PSHRC) has rescinded an Aug. 18, 2022, ruling against trainer Jamie Ness that suspended him six months and fined him $5,000 for a positive drug test for bufotenine in a winning horse at Parx.

Bufotenine is a psychoactive substance often referred to as “toad venom” because one of its sources is the skin of toads from the genus Bufo. In humans, it has been used for centuries in traditional forms of medicine as both a hallucinogen and a purported aphrodisiac. Starting in the 1990s, it briefly cycled into popularity as a street drug of abuse in the United States because of its ability to produce effects similar to those from mescaline and psilocybin mushrooms.

But another source of bufotenine is reed canary grass, a pasture plant. Ness's attorney, Drew Mollica, had argued that inadvertent contamination could have been a factor as the source of the traces of bufotenine that showed up in the positive post-race blood test of Crabs N Beer (Blofeld), who won a starter-optional claimer by 2 1/2 lengths as the 3-5 favorite on Feb. 23, 2022.

“Common sense and science carried the day, and a possible career-threatening suspension was rescinded,” Mollica told TDN. “The system is often draconian and unfair, but in this instance justice was served.”

The rescinded ruling, dated Mar. 6, 2023, reads as follows:

“The Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI) does not specify a threshold level for the substance Bufotenine. Based upon the PSHRC's analysis and investigation, the Commission has determined that the proper procedure would be to utilize the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA) recommended residual limit of 10mcg/ml in urine. Based on the IFHA established threshold level, the finding in Sample No. 390762 will not be determined as a positive result. As such, there is no violation of the Commission's Rules of Racing. Therefore, the Parx Board of Stewards Ruling No. 22226PP is hereby RESCINDED.”

Mollica explained the appeals process this way:

“We appealed on numerous levels. We did not go to a hearing, but they investigated it, and this is what they came up with. Bufotenine is a known contaminant, and our premise was it's culled in urine. They never took urine from this horse. They only took blood. And we argued that it was a known contaminant, and it was a low number in blood, and it should never have been a positive at all.”

Ness is currently third in the North American training standings so far this year, and seventh based on earnings. He is currently atop the Parx leaderboard in both wins and earnings for 2023.

The post Pennsylvania Commission Rescinds Ness Penalties From ’22 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

New Ruling on Changes Leaves NYRA, Trainers Puzzled

The notice began appearing on the overnight in early January. “By order of the stewards. Pursuant to NYSGC RULE 4033.8. Effective February 1^st, only equipment specifically approved by the stewards shall be worn or carried by a jockey or a horse in a race. No equipment change (including shoes) will be allowed once the overnight is published.”

“There is no new rule,” wrote Brad Maoine, Director of Communications for the New York State Gaming Commission in response to TDN's request for information about the new posting on the overnight. “The intent of the message is (to) ensure that the betting public has access to accurate information regarding equipment changes in a timely fashion.”

But a reading of the NYSGC's rule 4033.8 reveals no mention of a horse's equipment, and reads only, “Only equipment specifically approved by the stewards shall be worn or carried by a jockey or a horse in a race.” There is no mention of equipment changes for horses after the publishing of the overnight in the ruling as stated on the Gaming Commission's website.

Trainers, horsemen's representatives and the NYRA expressed confusion over what the impetus for the rule was, and concern over the repercussions.

Right now, NYRA races are drawn either five, three or two days in advance of the race, with any late changes announced on the t.v. and general address system at the track, and off.

“NYRA has mechanisms in place to inform the betting public in the event of a late equipment change,” said NYRA spokesman Patrick McKenna. “This new rule does nothing to further protect horseplayers and will likely penalize owners for administrative errors that can easily be corrected in real time.”

“I think there are several issues with it,” said trainer Todd Pletcher. “My first concern would be over an occasional shoe situation. We've had scenarios where a horse sheds a frog and we train the horse in an aluminum pad, and we try to keep it on to complete their training, which is usually right up to the day of the race. If you want to make that shoe change you sometimes literally don't know until game day. Entries in most jurisdictions are becoming further and further out, so that's one concern.”

Secondly, he said, “everyone makes mistakes occasionally, and maybe you made an honest mistake and didn't enter with blinkers, and caught it after the overnight came out, or maybe the racing office made a mistake and didn't note blinkers on. It seems as if there should be a 24-hour grace period.”

Trainer David Donk conceded that in a perfect world, trainers would and should indicate changes of equipment at entry time, but that the current system of taking entries by phone, rather than by computer with mandatory fields filled out, made it more likely for errors to be made.

“Why can't I enter online?” said Donk. “Listen, it is the trainer's responsibility. I probably don't have a real problem with it, but is it the commission overstepping? I don't see where it's coming from, and why there can't be a grace period? Common sense says there should be some compromise.”

Donk said that he imagined that the equipment changes hinted at would be blinker changes or the addition of a bar shoe. Attorney Drew Mollica—who has represented numerous clients in conflicts with the Gaming Commission, including two currently–said that he envisioned that the rule would not only make it more likely to cause unnecessary scratches, but could be subject to legal challenges.

“No shoe changes after entry puts the horse in jeopardy and hurts the track,” said Mollica. “Say a horse pops a small quarter crack and needs a bar shoe. If that is announced, does that not protect the owner, the public, the horse and the track? But under this rule, he must scratch. Why?”

“And how about blinkers?” he continued. “Say a horse breezes on the day after entry and the trainer thinks blinkers would help, but now has to scratch or run without equipment that could benefit his performance because the new rule says he must scratch or not wear them? Who does this help? In a game that has enough natural landmines, do we have to plant more?”

Will Alempijevic, the executive director of the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, replied in an email, “NYTHA is currently engaged in discussions with both the NYSGC and NYRA to understand the issues that precipitated the change. We will continue to play an active role to see if we can collectively come up with proposed solutions to everyone's mutual benefit.”

The post New Ruling on Changes Leaves NYRA, Trainers Puzzled appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Denied Commission Stay, Trainer Noda Fights NYSGC Penalty in Court

In an effort to fight a 90-day suspension and $5,000 fine for “striking a horse excessively” during a 2021 workout at Saratoga Race Course, trainer Orlando Noda has commenced proceedings in Schenectady Supreme Court that he hopes will prove the New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) acted unlawfully last month when it rejected an appeal hearing officer's recommendation that his case be dismissed without penalization.

Noda's legal filing is known as an Article 78 review, which pertains to a New York state law by which a petitioner can ask a court to review a decision or action of a state official or administrative agency.

Article 78 filings have a reputation for being costly to litigate and very time consuming, sometimes dragging on for months or even several years in the court system.

Although the two cases are not related, Noda's penalty got handed down during the same Dec. 12 NYSGC meeting as a ruling imposed upon Richie Gazer, the longtime New York Racing Association head clocker who was suspended 30 days and fined $2,500 for “altering a published work of a horse to make the horse eligible to race.”

But taken together, those two same-day adjudications share a commonality in that both decisions by the NYSGC represented a forceful rejection of each hearing officer's months of work in conducting the appeals and writing up the reports.

In both instances, the commissioners voted unanimously to impose the original penalties that had been handed down by Braulio Baeza, Jr., the NYSGC state steward at the three NYRA tracks.

Although such outright rejections are unusual, most racing commissions nationwide are not bound to accept the opinions of hearing officers, who are often attorneys, that they hire to hear appeals.

In both Noda's and Gazer's cases, their respective attorneys had asked the commission for a stay of their penalties pending Article 78 filings. Both were denied last month by the NYSGC.

“I asked the commission for a stay as a courtesy,” Drew Mollica, Noda's attorney, told TDN. “I was denied on Dec. 20. I was in court Dec. 28, and the judge issued a stay. He can continue training. We have filed our Article 78 and we are pursuing a full and fair review of this unjust decision. In this case, the record is clear: There never was, and there is not now, any evidence that Mr. Noda did what they accused him of, and the hearing officer knew that.”

The hearing officer who oversaw Noda's appeal, S. David Devaprasad, wrote in his Nov. 1 report that, “The regulations Respondent is alleged to have violated…are impermissibly vague and [there are no written] standards as to what constitutes the proper or improper use of a crop or whip while training a horse.”

The report continued: “The testimony at the Hearing of the Commission's single eyewitness of the alleged incident was simply not sufficient (nor any more credible than Respondent's testimony in defense) to establish that Respondent engaged in any action detrimental to the best interest of racing generally or was guilty of any improper, corrupt, or fraudulent act or practice…”

Back on Dec. 12 NYSGC chairman Brian O'Dwyer disagreed. In reading Noda's decision into the record, he said that, “The commission duly deliberated and considered this matter, and determined by a 6-0 vote to reject the hearing officer's report and recommendations. In doing that, commissioners reviewed the entire record, and established by a preponderance of evidence that Noda's conduct was improper and detrimental to the best interest of racing, and determined that the appropriate penalty was that which was given by the stewards.”

Along with O'Dwyer, NYSGC commissioners John Crotty, Peter Moschetti, Jr., Christopher Riano, Marissa Shorenstein and Jerry Skurnik all voted in favor of rejecting the hearing officers' recommendations in the two cases.

The post Denied Commission Stay, Trainer Noda Fights NYSGC Penalty in Court appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post