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NJ Harness Driver Fined $5,000, Suspended 20 Days for Whipping Prior to 3-horse Spill

A harness driver in New Jersey–where whipping a horse to make it run faster is prohibited in Thoroughbred racing but permitted with restrictions in Standardbred races–has been fined $5,000 and suspended 20 days for whipping his pacer so indiscriminately during a race last month that the judges deemed his actions caused a three-horse spill that injured one rival horse so severely it had to be euthanized.

According to a ruling posted on the New Jersey Racing Commission (NJRC) website, driver Joe Bongiorno was in the bike behind Pat Stanley N in the seventh race on May 29 at the Meadowlands when he “failed to keep the lines reasonably taut during the race [and] displayed exaggerated movement with the whip, using more than wrist action and raising his whipping arm to a level above shoulder height.

“Mr. Bongiorno continued to use the whip to urge his horse after the horse was no longer responding,” the ruling continued. “The culmination of these actions, each of which is a violation of [New Jersey's whipping rules] placed Mr. Bongiorno in a position of being unable to respond when [his] horse stumbled and fell, unseating Mr. Bongiorno as well as two other drivers.”

According to a post-accident Twitter posting by the track, one of the horses affected by Bongiorno's actions had to be euthanized. The two others suffered scrapes, but walked back to the paddock. US Trotting News reported Bongiorno himself was evaluated at a local hospital but reportedly had no fractures.

When crafting the state's new whip rules last year, the NJRC explained in a statement why there would be distinctions between breeds:

“Jockeys who ride horses have more methods to encourage and control horses than do drivers, as the jockey is in close proximity to the horse and a jockey's hands and feet are in contact with the horses. Drivers, who have no contact with the horse, have no method to encourage a horse other than with the use of the whip. As a result, the Commission does not believe it can eliminate the use of the whip entirely as the Commission is proposing for Thoroughbred racing.”

The commission did, however, prohibit shoulder and elbow action in Standardbred races.

It was not immediately clear if Bongiorno is appealing the ruling.

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Meadowlands Championship Meet Honors Joe DeFrank

Meadowlands Racetrack, East Rutherford, NJ – Harness racing Hall of Famer Joe DeFrank left an unforgettable legacy at the Meadowlands Racetrack.

Together with the Hambletonian Society, the Meadowlands made the decision to name the 2021 Championship Meet in honor of Joe DeFrank, who died in December at the age of 87.

“The Meadowlands owes its tremendous success to Mr. Joe DeFrank,” said Jason Settlemoir, COO & GM of the Meadowlands Racetrack. “Honoring him on the biggest stage in harness racing is a fitting tribute.”

Joe DeFrank was recruited by the New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority management team tasked with opening the Meadowlands Racetrack in 1976 and GM Bob Quigley went on the hunt for a rising star rather than cull from the ranks of existing talent.

He found DeFrank at Windsor Raceway, recognized his keen abilities to assess both horse and driver talent along with his fresh approach to racing, and convinced DeFrank to come east to the Meadowlands. DeFrank was the first and only race secretary at the flagship racetrack for 25 years. He created many popular winter series along with races such as the Meadowlands Pace and Woodrow Wilson, both of which offered purses of more than $1 million. The Woodrow Wilson purse also reached as high as $2 million, the most ever offered in the sport. The Meadowlands Pace, an instant classic, remains one of the most sought victories 40 years later.

DeFrank was also instrumental in bringing the Hambletonian from the Midwest to the Meadowlands in 1981. Always the innovative race secretary, DeFrank introduced a new concept to the Meadowlands in 1986 – a number of big-purse races for youngsters on the same night, called the Million Dollar Babies.

Joe DeFrank was inducted into the harness racing Hall of Fame in 1994, with presenter Stan Bergstein, a former race secretary himself, noting, “I realized quickly and instinctively that he was going places. I simply underestimated how far he was going, how fast he was going, and how impressively he would get there. No one in our business has mastered his craft more completely, elevated its power and stature, introduced more new ideas, commanded more respect or ruled with such absolute power as the man we now honor.”

John Campbell, Hall of Fame driver and now President and CEO of the Hambletonian Society, stated in his Facebook tribute to Mr. DeFrank, “Every driver, trainer, owner, stallion owner and breeder in our industry today is deriving benefits as a result of Joe DeFrank`s vision, innovation, and presentation of major stake races. Harness racing had never imagined purses that the Meadowlands Pace and Woodrow Wilson were going for, and, imitation being the best form of flattery, other tracks soon changed their outlook and approach to their stake programs. The Metro, North America Cup, Breeders Crown, and many others all evolved after the success of Joe's vision at the Meadowlands and he started the Final Four races at Garden State Park, as well.”

The 2021 Meadowlands Racetrack Championship Meet in honor of Joe DeFrank culminates Saturday, Aug. 7 — Hambletonian Day.

The post Meadowlands Championship Meet Honors Joe DeFrank appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Second Civil Suit From Oklahoma, West Virginia Racing Authorities Questions Constitutionality Of HISA

The Horseracing Safety and Integrity Act (HISA) is facing a second legal challenge after Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter announced this week he is filing a federal lawsuit calling into question the act's constitutionality. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern Division of Kentucky, includes a number of plaintiffs, including the states of Oklahoma and West Virginia and their racing commissions, the U.S. Trotting Association and Pennsylvania-based Hanover Shoe Farm, as well as the Oklahoma Quarter Horse Association and a number of track ownership entities in Oklahoma. Defendants include the United States, the Federal Trade Commission, and a number of individuals working for the FTC and the HISA nominating committee.

This suit, much like one filed in March by the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association and a number of its state affiliates, questions the ability of HISA to delegate regulation to a private group while not making it accountable to a government organization. The suit questions the new authority's relationship to the FTC, which critics say can only approve or deny new rules, but has no substantive input on their construction.

The Oklahoma suit also objects to the funding mechanism that has been laid out for the new authority.

“After creating this vast new federal regulatory structure and delegating it to a private corporation, Congress disclaimed any responsibility for funding the Authority itself,” reads an excerpt from the suit. “Instead, it forced the funding responsibility onto the states, imposing on them the choice of either funding the Authority with state funds or, if a state refuses, collecting fees directly from racing industry participants in that state while punishing the state by banning it from collecting similar taxes or fees itself.”

The suit seeks a declaration that HISA is unconstitutional and wants the court to stop its implementation. The suit also seeks “nominal damages.”

Read the complaint here.

The Jockey Club, which was a major player in pushing HISA forward, has previously said it believes the act is on solid ground in terms of its constitutionality.

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Philip Antonacci, Son Of Harness Immortal, Celebrates First Thoroughbred Winner

Philip Antonacci grew up in one of the most prominent harness racing families, but he has always been fascinated by the world of Thoroughbreds.

His father, Frank Antonacci, whose Lindy Farms has won five Hambletonians, has been inducted into the Harness Hall of Fame's Hall of Immortals. Yet, the 26-year-old Connecticut native has opted for a change of pace and embarked on a quest to succeed as a Thoroughbred trainer.

Antonacci, who has worked for several of the world's most respected Thoroughbred trainers to achieve that goal, notched his first major milestone as a Thoroughbred trainer Saturday at Gulfstream Park, where he saddled his first winner, Advanced Strategy, in the mile optional claiming allowance feature on turf. Owned by Lindy Farms, Advanced Strategy was Antonacci's fifth starter.

“He'll definitely have a home forever, being my first winner,” said Antonacci, who has 15 horses stabled at Payson Park.

Although he has become focused on his Thoroughbred career, Antonacci has hardly left the Standardbred world behind. In fact, he is teaming with Jimmy Takter, the retired Harness Hall of Fame legend who has ventured into Thoroughbred racing to assist Antonacci.

“He's like the D. Wayne Lukas of Standardbred racing. He retired three years ago. He always had an interest in Thoroughbreds, so when I decided to go on my own, he said, 'I'd like to come along and help and assist. We can put our minds together and come up with our own training plan,'” said Antonacci. “He's at the barn quite a bit. It's been a great team effort.”

Unfortunately, Takter was unable to attend the races Saturday.

“I was on the phone with him. He's won a lot of Hambletonians, but he said he was relieved to get this one across the line,” Antonacci said.

Antonacci, a graduate of Godolphin's Flying Start program, became interested in Thoroughbred while attending the races at Saratoga and went on to work for trainers Wesley Ward, Australia's Gai Waterhouse and Todd Pletcher.

“I grew up summers in Saratoga, so that's when I started to get into it,” said the University of Pennsylvania graduate. “I actually started off working for Wesley at Saratoga. He helped me a lot getting started, and he's the one who introduced me to Gai Waterhouse, who put me in touch with the Flying Start program. If it wasn't for them, I never would have gotten started in the Thoroughbred game.”

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