U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil ordered Fishman surrender himself by May 9 to begin his sentence and ruled he will be on supervised release for one year after completing his term.

Fishman entered a guilty plea to one count of adulteration or misbranding. He had also been charged with conspiracy to commit drug adulteration and misbranding and conspiracy to defraud the United States by the misbranding of drugs.

Fishman is no relation to recently-convicted former veterinarian and Equestology owner Dr. Seth Fishman, although he did supply ingredients to Equestology. While Seth Fishman had a degree in veterinary medicine, Jordan Fishman holds a PhD in biochemistry and carcinogenesis/toxicology, hence they are both known as “Dr. Fishman.”

In presentencing reports filed with the court, Fishman's counsel suggested that he should be given probation. His attorneys say that Fishman's company, 21^st Century Biochemicals, works with a range of companies and according to its website, it makes custom peptides, custom antibodies, and offers a variety of testing services. Equestology was between 3 and 6 percent of Jordan Fishman's gross revenue, according to his attorney. Fishman's counsel also indicated 21^st Century Biochemicals had been key to fighting the COVID-19 pandemic as it has designed peptides to help in ongoing research of new virus variants.

“Jordan is a hard-working, kind, and caring individual with zero history of crime,” read the defense report. “He does not live in a mansion or lead an opulent life. (Again, the parties agree the intended loss amount here was less than $150,000.) Instead, he lives in a small, unfinished two-bedroom apartment and is responsible for taking care of his parents, including his father, who has lung cancer.”

The defense also characterized prison as unreasonably risky to Fishman, as COVID-19 infections are known to spread more rapidly in a mass housing environment, and indicated Fishman has health concerns, including a high body mass index, which make him more susceptible to serious disease.

The prosecutors' report emphasized Fishman's knowledge that the substances he produced for Seth Fishman were used as performance-enhancing substances for horses, and that what he was doing was against federal law.

At Seth Fishman's request, prosecutors say Jordan Fishman made injectable products to act as blood builders and pain blocks, among other things. Jordan Fishman sold the products to Seth Fishman for considerably less than Seth Fishman charged his customers, and Jordan Fishman is not believed to have been consumer-facing in any way. They say he did give Seth Fishman useful intel as the latter built his business, however.

“Jordan Fishman went beyond merely taking direction from Seth Fishman,” wrote prosecutors. “The defendant kept Seth Fishman apprised of developments with respect to the testability of drugs and potential formulations for novel adulterated and misbranded performance-enhancing drugs.”

Attorneys for the government attached a number of exhibits showing intercepted emails between the two Fishmans, but those documents were filed under seal, with only selected excerpts included in the public-facing report.

Jordan Fishman apparently weighed in on which types of drugs he thought could impact a horse's performance, as well as how likely they were to be detected.

“Just a heads up,” he wrote in one email. “The German Sports Authority requested a quote through our European distributor for several versions of EMP1. I wanted you to know that this may be on people's radar by now since it is being resurrected by them. In a paper they published in 2011 they say they can detect it for perhaps several days.”

In a text message exchange, Seth and Jordan Fishman discussed the activity of human athletes using doping agents, including the “stupidity” of those who purchased GNRH (which Jordan Fishman made for Seth), over the internet instead of hiring their own supplier.

“In a call approximately one month later, on April 3, 2019, Seth Fishman further explicated the performance-enhancing qualities of vasodilators like Viagra, which Jordan Fishman had been (and continued to) manufacture at Seth Fishman's behest,” the report read. “In another call, the two discussed using and designing vasodilators specifically in connection with a race, estimating the length of a contemplated race in order to determine how long the vasodilator would have to last.”

“…at the outset of a discussion regarding the potency of a particular new drug in which the defendant discussed designing the drug to be many times more powerful than morphine, Jordan Fishman cautioned Seth Fishman: '[Y]ou are going to be taking chances with these animals. You know?'”

In 2017, Seth Fishman warned Jordan that agents with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had approached an employee of his and indicated they had fielded complaints about Seth Fishman's business. Seth instructed Jordan to tell the FDA that Seth's clients were “predominantly overseas royalty” and “[a]s far as you know [Equestology's] clients are UAE royalty” and “as far as you know my research and production is for overseas clients that work with the ruling sheiks.”

Prosecutors had tried to get Seth Fishman's bail revoked shortly before his trial when they learned he had continued making products after his arrest, in what they asserted could be a violation of his bail conditions. Seth Fishman's attorneys argued that since the products in question were made for sale overseas only, they were not a violation of federal laws.

The government advocated for a sentence of 12 to 18 months in prison.

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A jury of eight women and four men in U.S. District Court in Manhattan found Fishman, 50, guilty of two counts of conspiring to violate adulteration and misbranding laws and the manufacture of PEDS administered to racehorses by corrupt trainers for money and fame.

U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil will sentence Fishman May 5.

Prosecutor Sarah Mortazavi told the judge prosecutors would be seeking to detain Fishman pending sentencing. 

The verdict came swiftly. Jurors got the case late Feb. 1 and deliberated for about three hours Tuesday and Wednesday. The trial began with jury selection Jan. 19 and lasted 11 days. 

The jury rejected Fishman's defense that his actions were in keeping with his oath as a licensed veterinarian to protect the health and welfare of animals.

“I understand the jury has reached a verdict,” Vyskocil said after the jury filed in the wood-paneled courtroom on the 26th floor of the courthouse.

The jury's foreperson then announced Fishman's guilt on each of the counts.

“I love animals. I love horses,” one of the jurors, Victoria Lopez, a 61-year-old woman from The Bronx, said in an interview following the verdict. “What they were doing wasn't right.”

“The jury's swift conviction of Seth Fishman reflects the overwhelming evidence of his guilt as displayed through this trial,” New York U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a release issued from his office. “As an ostensible veterinarian – sworn to the care and protection of animals – Fishman cynically violated his oath in service of corrupt trainers and in the pursuit of profits.”

Williams added, “Through the sale of untested, unsafe, and unstable drugs, Fishman's illegal drug business was a platform for both fraud and animal abuse. Today's conviction appropriately condemns the danger inherent in Fishman's crimes and underscores the seriousness with which this office takes the kind of abuse that Fishman practiced.” 

Stuart S. Janney III, chairman of The Jockey Club, also reacted to the verdict.

“I am pleased to see all of the effort and time spent by federal agents, prosecutors, and others who have worked so hard on this case be rewarded with a guilty verdict, and I thank them for their commitment,” Janney said in a statement distributed by TJC.

“It is highly encouraging to know that those who cheat and endanger our sport's athletes, both equine and human, face meaningful and life-changing punishments,” he added. “Clearly, this verdict will serve as a deterrent to others, and it also provides hope for those who want to see true change in the racing industry. This step forward, one of many recently, reflects our steadfast determination towards maintaining the highest levels of integrity and safety for racing's athletes and customers.”

Fishman wasn't in the courtroom when the verdict was announced. Vyskocil hasn't said in open court where he is. A cryptic comment from Fishman's attorney to the judge led to speculation Fishman may be in a hospital.

Fishman had a co-defendant Lisa Giannelli, at the start of the trial. She worked with Fishman for 18 years, and prosecutors accused her of being Fishman's drug distributor. On Jan. 24, Vyskocil declared a mistrial in her case after her attorney tested positive for COVID-19. 

Nearly two years ago, Williams' office charged Fishman, six other veterinarians, 11 trainers, and nine others, identified as PED distributors, with conspiring dope horses in New York, New Jersey, Florida, Ohio, Kentucky, and the United Arab Emirates.

The investigation began in 2018 and was headed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and criminal investigators with the Food and Drug Administration.

At the time of the indictment, then-New York U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said the case was “the most far-reaching prosecution of racehorse doping in the history of the U.S. Department of Justice.”

At a March 2020 press conference announcing the indictments, FBI New York assistant director in charge William F. Sweeney Jr. said the doping conspiracy risked the health of horses administered PEDs.

“What happened to these horses amounted to nothing less than abuse,” Sweeney said.

Those charged included top trainer Jason Servis, who federal prosecutors say juiced multi-millionaire Maximum Security, the first-place finisher in the 2019 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1), who was demoted to 17th by stewards for interference with another horse in the race.

The accused also included Jorge Navarro, who was sentenced to five years in prison last year after pleading guilty to conspiracy. Prosecutors presented evidence at Fishman's trial showing that the trainer paid Fishman tens of thousands of dollars for PEDs, including a substance called BB3 that prosecutors say thickens a horse's blood to make it run faster and farther.

Navarro is one of nine charged individuals who have pled guilty. Two others who were arrested entered into non-prosecution agreements with prosecutors.

The Fishman trial revealed that another of those accused, former harness trainer Ross Cohen, struck a deal with prosecutors to become a cooperating witness.

Servis and several others have pled not guilty and are awaiting trial. 

Prosecutors have said in court papers that they are in plea discussions with several defendants without naming them. 

The Fishman verdict could have an impact on cases going forward.

The evidence against Fishman included witness testimony, emails and texts, and wiretap recordings that captured Fishman talking about doping horses, and bragging that his drugs wouldn't appear in post-race testing.

Prosecutors also showed the jury thousands of vials of drugs seized from Fishman's Florida company Equestology.

Two of those witnesses were harness trainer Adrienne Hall and Thoroughbred trainer Jamen Davidovich. They testified they juiced their horses with PEDs obtained from Fishman. Hall testified under deferred prosecution agreement with the government. Davidovich's testimony came after he was granted immunity.

As part of their case, prosecutors also played for the jury video of Navarro's juiced X Y Jet winning the $2.5 million Dubai Golden Shaheen Sponsored By Gulf News (G1) in Dubai in 2019. X Y Jet died of a heart attack a year later, Navarro said in a statement shortly after the incident.

“Thank you boss, (you're) a big part of it,” Navarro said in a text exchange with Fishman just after the 2019 Golden Shaheen.

The Thoroughbred industry's leading publications are working together to cover this key trial.

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The testimony from Adrienne Hall and Jamen Davidovich highlighted the seventh day of Fishman's trial on adulteration and misbranding conspiracy charges. Fishman was one of 27 individuals charged in the case and is the first on trial. Those charged include two prominent trainers—Jason Servis, who is awaiting trial, and Jorge Navarro, who pleaded guilty and has been sentenced to five years in prison.

Hall, of Monroe, N.J., trains horses at the Sunshine Meadows harness track in Florida and last raced a standardbred last month in New Jersey. Davidovich, also an owner, raced primarily in the Mid-Atlantic in 2020-21. He has starts this year in New York and Ohio and says he approaches the sport now more as a hobby.

Both told the jury of eight women and four men how they went about getting in touch with Fishman in 2017 and 2018 with the sole intention of obtaining from PEDs that wouldn't show up in post-race testing.

“His reputation preceded him,” Davidovich, 31, of Pennsylvania said.

Hall testified Fishman gave her a PED called VO2 Max, which she used to dope a horse and win a harness race in March 2019. Prosecutors have elicited testimony that VO2 Max increases horses' oxygen levels that enable them to run faster and longer but at risk to their safety and well-being.

The jury heard a portion of an FBI wiretap that captured Hall excitedly telling Fishman about the first-place finish.

“I wish you could have seen the race,” Hall says to the veterinarian. “He was so fantastic. He dominated. He was a completely different animal. I was so happy.”

Hall added the horse's final quarter time was 27 seconds.

“What is it usually?” Fishman asks.

“Usually it's :28 or :29 and struggling,” she responds.

Hall testified that the PEDs were a gift from Fishman. She said she believed that was the case because Fishman wanted her to connect him to two trainers she knew.

One of those trainers was Todd Pletcher, the Hall of Famer who runs a large stable.

His name was revealed under cross-examination by Fishman attorney Maurice Sercarz.

Prosecutor Sarah Mortazavi, who initially questioned Hall, never asked Hall to reveal the names during her direct examination.

At the start of her direct testimony Hall had said that before she got her trainer's license, she worked at two Thoroughbred farms and for Pletcher's stable in an administrative position, not with horses.

Hall told Sercarz that even though she told Fishman she would contact Pletcher, she never did.

Mortazavi then asked why that was when she questioned the witness again.

“He would never take my advice or opinion,” Hall testified, referring to Pletcher. “I would never approach him about something like that.”

Hall was on the witness stand, testifying against Fishman as part of a non-prosecution agreement with prosecutors. They agreed not to prosecute her for doping horses.

Davidovich was testifying without any such agreement. Instead, he invoked his Fifth Amendment right not to testify and then was compelled to testify by Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil under a grant of immunity. Under a grant of immunity, a witness can't be charged with any crimes he or she admits to.

Hall and Davidovich could, however, potentially face sanctions from regulators after their testimony. Servis and Navarro have been suspended from racing, as have other indicted individuals.

Davidovich told the jury Fishman began supplying him with PEDs after a meeting at a sushi bar in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He said there was a third person at the meeting, a person he described as “my owner.”

Asked by prosecutor Anden Chow how the subject of PEDs came up, Davidovich responded, “We were talking about different things to make the horse run better.”

Davidovich said that as they got to know each other, Fishman complained to him about Navarro. Prosecutors say Fishman was one of Navarro's suppliers of banned PEDS.

“He said Navarro owed him a lot of money, and he was going to cut him off if he didn't pay,” the witness testified. “He also said he didn't want (Navarro) taking down the whole ship because he had a loud mouth.”

Davidovich said Fishman was referring to a video shot at Monmouth Park in which Navarro and one of his owners bragged after winning a race that Navarro was the “Juice Man.”

Davidovich said he stopped doping horses in 2018 after meeting Dr. Steve Allday, a well-known Thoroughbred veterinarian.

“He was the first person in the business who took me under his wing and taught me a different way of being involved in horse racing,” he testified.

He added: “I know what I did was wrong, and I wanted to move forward in a different way.”

The Thoroughbred industry's leading publications are working together to cover this key trial.

The post Two Active Trainers Testify At Fishman Trial, Say They Used His PEDs appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Several defendants, including trainer Jason Servis, had filed their own motions to suppress or joined together on existing motions. Motions from Jordan Fishman, Marcos Zulueta, and Christopher Oakes had been withdrawn when those defendants entered guilty pleas in recent weeks.

Judge Vyskocil also moved forward with trial scheduling. Attorneys had already agreed that the remaining defendants would be clustered in three groupings for trial purposes, according to who seemed to have worked together in the relevant, alleged criminal activities. The first group will consist of Dr. Seth Fishman, who is accused of making a number of performance-enhancing substances, and Lisa Giannelli, who is accused of helping to distribute those products. An order from the judge entered Nov. 4 stated the first trial is expected to begin on or about Jan. 19, 2022.

Defendants in the second group could see a trial toward the latter part of the first quarter of 2022, though a date range was not included in the Nov. 4 order. That grouping includes Rick Dane Jr. and Dr. Rebecca Linke.

The remaining defendants include Dr. Erica Garcia, Jason Servis, Michael Tannuzzo, and Dr. Alex Chan. Prosecutors have expressed a desire to try those four defendants together, although the judge left the door open this week that she may hear severance motions if any of the defendants move to be tried separately.

The next status conference in the case is scheduled for Jan. 13, 2022.

The post Judge Dismisses Motions To Suppress Wiretap Evidence In Federal Case, First Trial Date Set appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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The Meadowlands, Tioga and Vernon Downs and Jeff Gural have been named in a lawsuit initiated by a number of Standardbred owners who allege to have been excluded from racing at the three tracks as a result of their patronage of trainer Rene Allard.

Allard was among more than 30 racing related individuals indicted and arrested in March 2020 by the United States Department of Justice for offenses relating to the systematic and covert administration of illegal performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) to racehorses. He was later included in a superseding indictment filed in federal court in December 2020. The charges remain pending.

The plaintiffs named are Kapildeo Singh, Lawrence Dumain, Ira and Brian Wallach, Yves Sarrazin, Erlin Hill, Bruce Soulsby and Alan Weisenberg, who in their complaint admit that they have an interest in horses stabled by Allard in Florida over the winter of 2020-2021. The complaint alleges that the plaintiffs were the victims of a conspiracy by Gural to exclude their horses from racing at the three tracks to gain a “competitive advantage.”

“It's a little discouraging that when you're trying to clean up the drug problem, we now have to hire an expensive lawyer to defend us against this lawsuit, which essentially calls me dishonest,” said Meadowlands President Jeff Gural. “Worse yet, we get no cooperation from the horsemen who love to complain about the drugs but don't lift a finger to help us catch the perpetrators. The lawsuit is without merit. We will vigorously defend against these allegations and look forward to being vindicated in court.”

According to ustrottingnews.com, the complain was filed on Aug. 23 in the U.S. District Court Northern District of New York. An initial conference before Magistrate Judge Miroslav Lovric has been set for Nov. 24, 2021 at 10 a.m. via teleconference.

The post Standardbred Owners File Suit Against Gural, Meadowlands For Exclusion Due To Allard Association appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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As part of his plea agreement with prosecutors, Rhein has agreed to forfeit $1,021,800 of the proceeds he generated from the illegal drug sales, and to further pay over $700,000 in restitution to the victims of his crimes. Prosecutors did not specify who the victims would be for the purposes of restitution, only that a sealed list would be filed along with sentencing recommendations. Vyskocil also clarified with prosecutors that the restitution amount owed by Rhein could lessen if additional defendants are found or plead guilty.

Sentencing will take place at a later date, but the charge Rhein pleaded to carries a maximum recommended prison sentence of three years, with an additional possible sentence of one year of supervised probation. Vyskocil made clear to Rhein that she could decide to impose a higher sentence if she chose. Rhein could also face fines of $10,000, twice the gross gain of his scheme, or twice the losses to others as the result of his crimes, whichever amount is greatest.

Rhein specifically mentioned that he conspired with trainer Jason Servis to administer and conceal the administration of SGF-1000. Prosecutors revealed they had evidence collected from wire taps stating that SGF-1000 was untestable and demonstrating that trainers described anecdotal impacts of the drug on their horses' performance. Further, prosecutors had archived information showing that after drug makers realized there was regulatory scrutiny of SGF-1000, they changed their marketing to stop referring to it as a performance enhancer and vasodilator, and to begin referring to it as a homeopathic treatment. Prior to this change, the drug was also advertised to contain various growth factors, but that was also modified to evade scrutiny.

Read more about the evolution in the marketing of SGF-1000 in this Paulick Report feature published during the week of the indictments. 

Intercepted phone calls also allegedly contain discussions between Rhein and others about SGF-1000 being undetectable on post-race drug testing. Indeed, prosecutors say, based on the evidence they collected about the drug's use, it was not showing up on post-race tests.

Prosecutors also revealed they had evidence showing the shipment of SGF-1000 from an overseas manufacturer to MediVet Equine, a Nicholasville, Ky.-based company which claimed to be the originator of SGF-1000. Michael Kegley, Jr., former director of sales for MediVet Equine, changed his plea to guilty in late July 2021.

Also during Tuesday's hearing, prosecutors revealed they believed between $26 and $65 million in purses was collected by Servis while using drugs given by Rhein on their horses. They did not specify which horses or which races they were referring to. Rhein stated that the dates of his drug adulteration and misbranding stretched from December 2016 until March 2020.

The post Veterinarian Changes Plea, Agrees To Forfeit Over $1 Million Plus Restitution In Federal Case appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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The federal case file does not indicate whether Navarro will change his plea in one or both counts.

Also on July 30, Vyskocil filed an order denying a series of motions from Navarro and other defendants to dismiss the charges against them. Several defendants had argued that they could not be charged under federal drug misbranding laws, in part because they did not commit those violations and in part because prosecutors could not identify legitimate victims of their alleged crimes.

Vyskocil asserted in her order that prosecutors were accusing the defendants of a conspiracy to commit violations of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and that the alleged failure to identify specific and relevant victims of the crimes at hand does not constitute a valid reason to dismiss the case. Prosecutors have depicted the FDA and Customs and Border Protection as victims of the crimes, along with state racing regulators, since the misbranding and use of the drugs were designed to deceive and evade those agencies. Vyskocil stated those were appropriate and proper victims of the crimes alleged.

Some defendants had also tried to have the case dismissed on the grounds that the Horseracing Integrity land Safety Act (HISA) would soon supersede the authority of the FDA in horse racing under the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. Vyskocil also did not find that argument compelling, pointing out that HISA has not yet been enacted (it's scheduled to go into effect on or before July 2022) and that legal precedent cautions against the assumption that one new law will automatically alter authorities granted by a previous law. Besides, Vyskocil pointed out, HISA is not concerned with the misbranding of drugs, but rather the use of drugs in horse racing. The former is the basis for the federal charges against Navarro and his co-defendants.

On July 23, federal defendant Michael Kegley altered his plea to guilty in the case, admitting he marketed and sold adulterated substances to trainers and veterinarians, knowing there was no valid prescription for them and that they were not made in a FDA-approved facility. Earlier this week, a change of plea hearing also appeared on the docket for Dr. Kristian Rhein, who was alleged to help distribute SGF-1000, one of the drugs marketed by Kegley.

The post After Judge Denies Motion To Dismiss, Navarro Expected To Change Not Guilty Plea appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Defendants Seth Fishman and Gianelli filed a motion to dismiss various counts of the superseding indictment last week, which was followed by letters of intent from attorneys for Navarro, Garcia, Jordan Fishman and Dane stating their intent to join in. The motion from Fishman and Giannelli's attorneys site a few different bases for the motion, particularly that the counts as written don't allege illegal actions under the Food Drug and Cosmetic Act, which is the basis for the criminal charges.

According to texts and phone calls intercepted by the FBI, Navarro requested misbranded or adulterated drugs from Fishman for administration to horses in his care, including X Y Jet, who died suddenly of an apparent heart attack in January 2020.

Their motion also casts doubt on who was supposedly deceived by their alleged activities involving misbranded drugs. The indictment stated that the drugs were designed to evade detection by state racing officials or tracks, but the defendants claim that misleading state officials and racetracks isn't a federal crime under the Act.

Oakes' motion includes similar language, while Tannuzzo's states that the first count of the superseding indictment “fail[s] to state an offense as applied to him.”

The government has not yet responded to those motions and letters of intent, filed Feb. 5.

The federal case includes five total counts — four charges of drug adulteration and misbranding conspiracy and one count of mail and wire fraud — with different groups of defendants attached to each, dependent upon their alleged actions and relationship with each other. Charges were originally filed in March 2020 accusing more than two dozen people in the Thoroughbred and Standardbred industries of doping racehorses with adulterated or misbranded drugs or supplying such materials to horsemen. A superseding indictment was filed in November 2020 and left off a number of the original defendants from the March indictment, including Gregory Skelton, Ross Cohen, Nick Surick, Chris Marino and Henry Argueta, though it's unclear whether that means those defendants have taken deals with prosecutors. Their case files remain open with no plea change as of this writing.

According to a status conference last summer, discovery in this case is not expected to be completed before late fall, as attorneys for the Southern District of New York have provided voluminous evidence collected by a lengthy FBI investigation to defense counsel. That status conference set dates by which various motions and subsequent responses would be due by both sides in the case, and those deadlines stretch on through the spring.

The post Navarro Among Handful Of Federal Defendants Filing Motions To Dismiss Drug Charges appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Standardbreds and Thoroughbreds that were trained by anyone named in the March indictment of more than two dozen trainers, veterinarians, and drug distributors in an alleged doping scheme were put on the veterinarian's list for 60 days and had biological samples taken for testing. Palmer said this week that the horses were tested at least twice during this period. Of nearly 100 Thoroughbreds based in the New York at the time, Palmer said 77 had levels of clenbuterol in their blood.

Though Palmer is still compiling veterinary records for some of those horses, so far he says none of those records show administration of clenbuterol. That leads him to suspect the drug was not being given as part of a legitimate treatment for a diagnosed condition, but rather for its side effects, which mimic anabolic steroids with repeated usage.

Palmer called the discovery “concrete evidence that clenbuterol was being widely abused in the Thoroughbred horses,” according to the Thoroughbred Daily News.

This isn't the first time testing has revealed widespread clenbuterol usage by the indicted trainers. In September, Kentucky Horse Racing Commission equine medical director Dr. Bruce Howard revealed that similar testing on Kentucky-based horses resulted in “a near 100 percent rate” of clenbuterol administration based on hair testing. Howard said that separately, treatment sheets submitted to the Kentucky commission as part of its veterinary disclosure rules have shown incidents of veterinarians prescribing the drug to entire barns.

Palmer said Mid-Atlantic states will likely tighten restrictions around clenbuterol administration.

Clenbuterol was one of several substances described in federal court documents as being favored by defendants for its performance-enhancing effects. Most of the other drugs listed there, such as EPO-like substances and “pain blockers,” are not permitted in active racehorses at all.

Read more at Thoroughbred Daily News

The post Report: 77 Percent Of New York Thoroughbreds From Indicted Trainers Were Positive For Clenbuterol After Arrests appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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The order also states he “shall have no contact whatsoever with racehorses.”

Ocala is home to a number of private training centers which do not fall under the jurisdiction of state racing regulators or racetrack ownership. Although those facilities are permitted to post official workouts to a horse's record through Equibase, there is often no oversight on who is handling or conditioning horses based at such facilities.

Read more at Thoroughbred Daily News

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