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NYRA Suspends Baffert

There was more bad news for Bob Baffert Monday, as the New York Racing Association announced that it has temporarily suspended the trainer, which means he will not be allowed to enter any horses at NYRA tracks or occupy stall space.

“In order to maintain a successful thoroughbred racing industry in New York, NYRA must protect the integrity of the sport for our fans, the betting public and racing participants,” NYRA President and CEO Dave O'Rourke said in a statement. “That responsibility demands the action taken today in the best interests of thoroughbred racing.”

While Baffert was not planning on running any of his horses in the GI Belmont S., he was aiming Charlatan (Speightstown) for the GI Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan H., run the same day as the Belmont. In most years, Baffert has also had starters during the Saratoga meet. It was not immediately known whether or not Charlatan or any other horses now trained by Baffert can run at the NYRA tracks for other trainers.

NYRA has joined Churchill Downs as tracks that are no longer accepting entries from Baffert. After agreeing to a number of conditions, including pre-race drug tests, Baffert was allowed to compete in the GI Preakness S. and other weekend stakes at Pimlico, by the track's owner, The Stronach Group. Medina Spirit (Protonico) ran third in the Preakness and stablemate Concert Tour (Street Sense) finished a well-beaten ninth.

In a response to TDN via email, Baffert's attorney, W. Craig Robertson, said: “I am just now reviewing the NYRA decision and then I will discuss it with Bob, along with all of his legal options. No formal statement or decision until both of those take place.”

Baffert's troubles began when he announced that he had been informed by the Kentucky Racing Commission that Medina Spirit had tested positive for the banned medication betamethasone, which is a corticosteroid. The betamethasone positive cannot be officially confirmed until after a split sample has been tested. Baffert has admitted that Medina Spirit was treated with an anti-fungal ointment which contains betamethasone.

NYRA acknowledged that, when making the decision, it took under consideration that Baffert has had numerous positives over the last several months.

“In addition to the ongoing investigation into Medina Spirit's victory in the Kentucky Derby, NYRA has taken into account the fact that other horses trained by Mr. Baffert have failed drug tests in the recent past, resulting in the assessment of penalties against him by thoroughbred racing regulators in Kentucky, California, and Arkansas,” read NYRA's statement.

NYRA called the suspension “temporary” and said it will make a final determination based on information revealed during the course of the ongoing investigation in Kentucky, such as the post-Kentucky Derby test results of Medina Spirit.

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Congressmen File Amicus Brief In Support of HISA

The lead congressional sponsors of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA), Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Representatives Andy Barr (R-KY) and Paul Tonko (D-NY), have filed a 14-page amicus ('friend of the court') brief in response to a lawsuit filed by the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association and some of its affiliates, challenging its constitutionality.

The brief lays out the reasons why HISA is necessary to protect and preserve the future of horse racing, deliberations in Congress over the course of several years that included input from all sectors of the horse racing industry–which resulted in broad, bipartisan support for the bill–and the reasons why HISA is, in fact, constitutional. HISA was signed into law by President Trump in December 2020.

“The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) commends Sen. McConnell, Rep. Barr and Rep. Tonko for their forceful defense of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act of 2020,” said NTRA President and Chief Executive Officer Alex Waldrop. “The need for a national body to enforce stringent integrity and safety standards for Thoroughbred racing has never been greater. Organizations and individuals representing virtually every segment of our industry are committed to working cooperatively with the HISA Authority and its standing advisory committees to assist the Authority in carrying out its federal mandate to propose to the Federal Trade Commission for that agency's adoption an innovative, affordable federal regulatory system that prioritizes first and foremost the safety of horse and rider and the integrity of our sport.”

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Three-Year License Revocation, $50K Fine For Rice’s ‘Improper and Corrupt Conduct’

Linda Rice had her training license immediately revoked for a period of “no less than three years” and was fined $50,000 May 17 when New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) members voted 5-0 to agree with a hearing officer that Rice's years-long pattern of seeking and obtaining confidential pre-entry information from New York Racing Association (NYRA) racing office workers was “intentional, serious and extensive, and that her actions constituted improper and corrupt conduct…inconsistent with and detrimental to the best interests of horse racing.”

Rice had testified during eight days of NYSGC hearings late in 2020 that she had handed over cash gifts amounting to thousands of dollars at a time to NYRA racing office employees between 2011 and 2015.

But the veteran conditioner, who has been training since 1987 and owns seven NYRA training titles, also testified that she did not expect any special favors in return for that money, and that any entry-related information she did receive from NYRA employees was a type of disclosure that was routinely divulged to other trainers.

In most racing jurisdictions, telling trainers which other horses have been entered or are considering a particular race is a clear rules violation, because it affords a trainer an advantage over others who enter horses without knowledge of the caliber of competition.

But in practice, one could make the case that some form of tipping-off to trainers exists to various degrees in racing offices all across America, particularly in the current era of races routinely needing to be “hustled” to fill because of a thin nationwide horse population.

Within that realm of rules-bending there are numerous gray-area distinctions, ranging from the relatively innocuous encouragement of trainers to enter into what is considered an easy spot all the way up to trainers proactively and sometimes predatorially seeking a steady stream of inside info and paying handsomely to receive it.

TDN left email and phone messages for Rice and her attorney Monday seeking comment and to find out if a court appeal is in the works. Neither replied prior to deadline for this story.

The specific accusations against Rice stemmed from a separate NYRA investigation that had been launched in 2014 when it was revealed that several NYRA racing office employees with access to The Jockey Club's InCompass entry management software had been improperly sharing login access to the system with horsemen and jockey agents. One employee was eventually fired after the scheme was uncovered and another had his license suspended for other racing-office infractions.

In early 2018, Daily Racing Form first reported that Rice allegedly made payments to NYRA officials in order to obtain knowledge–and sometimes the past performances–of rival horses likely to be entered against her trainees.

It was then nearly two years later, in November 2019, that Rice was first summoned to a NYSGC hearing on the matter to determine whether she received “regular, continual and improper access to the confidential names and other information concerning the other horses entered in races…before the entries closed and you decided to enter the horses you were training in such races or not.”

The start of that hearing was delayed during the early stages of the pandemic, so it took another full year before Rice's case finally commenced in November 2020. The proceedings stretched out over eight calendar days and included 60 evidence exhibits and testimony from 16 witnesses.

As is routine during NYSGC hearing adjudications announced at public meetings, the merits of the case were not debated Monday among commissioners, who had previously voted on the outcome after receiving the hearing officer's final report dated Apr. 13. The results of the vote were merely read into the record.

NYSGC chairman Barry Sample did underscore when reading the results of the vote to suspend and fine Rice that commission members “concurred with the penalty recommended by hearing officer [Clark Petschek] but modified the report to specifically reflect that the hearing officer found multiple violations,” which was a factor in the board fining Rice above the $25,000 per-violation penalty that is recommended in the state's racing rules.

A TDN request to the NYSGC to obtain a copy of the hearing officer's full report did not yield a response prior to deadline for this story.

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Linda Rice’s License Revoked, Trainer Fined $50,000

New York-based trainer Linda Rice has been fined $50,000 and had her license to participate in Thoroughbred racing revoked for “actions inconsistent with and detrimental to the best interest of racing generally and corrupt and improper acts and practices in relation to racing,” the New York State Gaming Commission revealed on Monday, May 17. The trainer will not be permitted to apply for a new license for a period of three years.

The NYSGC first launched an investigation into Rice's operation in early 2018, on the claim that she traded money for information from the racing office. That information, such as which horses were likely to enter races before the race had closed, could have given her a competitive advantage.

The investigation uncovered evidence that between 2011 and 2015, Rice received faxes and emails from former entry clerks Jose Morales and Matt Salvato, giving her the names and past performance records of horses prior to draw time. Senior racing office management has said the names of trainers and horses in a given race are not to be released until after a race is drawn (with stakes races being the exception).

An eight-day hearing was conducted at the end of 2020, and the hearing officer submitted a final report to the NYSGC on April 13, 2021. The report concluded that Rice's misconduct – which involved receiving and requesting confidential entry information in overnight races – was intentional, serious and extensive. It also concludes that her actions constituted improper and corrupt conduct in relation to racing in violation of NYCRR 4042.1 and were inconsistent with and detrimental to the best interests of horse racing.

The hearing officer recommended the Commission impose a fine of $50,000 and immediately revoke her license to participate in thoroughbred horse racing and restricting her ability to apply for a new license for a period of no less than three years.

The Commission concurred with the penalty recommended but modified the Report to specifically reflect that the hearing officer found multiple violations, which under NY Racing, Pari-Mutuel Wagering and Breeding Law Sec. 116 allows for $25,000 per violation.

The Commission voted 5-0 to fine Linda Rice $50,000 and to revoke her license to participate in Thoroughbred horse racing for a period of no less than three years.

Rice has saddled the winners of 2,107 races from 11,382 starters over a career dating back to 1987, according to Equibase. Her top trainees include millionaires La Verdad and Palace, as well as Grade 1 winners Voodoo Song, City Zip, and Tenski.

Also on Monday, the Commission adopted several new medication rules:

Commissioners voted 5-0 to restrict the administration of race day Lasix to veterinarians “who are not caring for the horses of a trainer or owner who participates at the race meeting,” extending the third-party Lasix rule to the state's Standardbred tracks (it was already in place at Thoroughbred tracks).
A new clenbuterol rule was adopted requiring approval before a horse can be treated with prescribed clenbuterol, daily submission of administration of clenbuterol treatment, that a treated horse to be placed on the Vet's list, and bars a horse from racing until it tests negative for clenbuterol.
ARCI modified the model rule thresholds for three drugs (detomidine, omeprazole and xylazine) based on developing research. ARCI also added to the list of thresholds amounts for another four routine therapeutic medications, three of which are antihistamines (cetirizine, cimetidine and ranitidine) and one of which is a muscle relaxant used in anesthetic protocols (guaifensin). The thresholds are consistent with New York's existing restricted time periods. Trainers who comply with such restricted time periods will be assured of not violating such thresholds.

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