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Identifier, Owner And Trainer Issued Fines, Other Sanctions For New Mexico Horse Mix-Up

Over a year after the incident, the New Mexico Racing Commission has handed down sanctions in a case of horse misidentification during the 2020 Downs at Albuquerque meet, according to rulings posted on the Association of Racing Commissioners International website.

The horse identifier in the paddock at Albuquerque failed to catch the mix-up, as did the private veterinarian who treated the horse with furosemide on race-day. (Note: New Mexico still permits private veterinarians in the stalls for furosemide shots on race-day.)

For their roles in the mix-up, horse identifier Kenneth Mike LaRue was fined $5,000 and is unable to be licensed as a racing official in New Mexico; trainer Sherry Armstrong was fined $2,000 and suspended 15 days from Dec. 15-30; and owner Tom McKenna of Judge Lanier Racing was fined $2,000.

Previously owned by Judge Lanier Racing before being entered into a ThoroughbredAuctions.com dispersal sale, McCirca and McMissy are both bred by McKenna Thoroughbreds and sired by McKenna's Justice. Armstrong told the Paulick Report that the pair had been sent to her with nametags on their halters, apparently having been inadvertently swapped.

Armstrong sent out the filly she believed to be named McCirca for two races at Albuquerque on Aug. 22, 2020, and Sept. 16, 2020. Armstrong said she learned shortly after the Sept. 16 race that McCirca was actually another 4-year-old filly named McMissy.

One major difference between the two fillies: McCirca is a bay, while McMissy is chestnut.

The Judge Lanier Racing LLC Dispersal of Race Horses was held online Sept. 16, 2020, through Sept. 23, 2020.

McMissy, who was ordered disqualified from her sixth and last-place finishes in the Aug. 22 and Sept. 16 races, respectively, has since run twice for new owner Dylan Pyle and trainer Guadalupe Munoz, Jr. at Zia Park, on Nov. 4, 2020 and Dec. 22, 2020. The filly did not threaten in either race. Equibase does not list the starts in August and September on her past performances.

McCirca, now racing for owner/trainer Ruben Leyba, ran at Albuquerque on Aug. 29, 2021, finishing seventh in what was actually her first race since March 8, 2020. She raced again on Sept. 14, 2021, again finishing seventh, and again on Nov. 21, 2021, in which she lost her rider at the start and walked off the track.

Another New Mexico-based trainer, Justin Evans, was suspended 15 days and fined $5,000 for mixing up two horses from his stable entered in the same race at Albuquerque on Aug. 14, 2021. Evans criticized the equipment given to the horse identifier and the process used to confirm the identity of horses as they come into the paddock. The identifier received a $1,000 fine for the error involving the Evans horses.

“The thing the commission would like to see is all the racing officials that work in the state of New Mexico get some education on how to do their jobs right, and not be so lazy,” Izzy Trejo, executive director of the NMRC, told bloodhorse.com. “That's basically why these mistakes happen because people cut corners and they're lazy. I hate to be so blunt.”

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Another Case Of Mistaken Identity Alleged At Albuquerque

Two Thoroughbreds previously owned by Judge Lanier Racing apparently were inadvertently switched last year before a pair of races at the Downs at Albuquerque in New Mexico and the track's horse identifier failed to catch the error. One year later, their Equibase statistical data has not been corrected, though the New Mexico Racing Commission is now looking into the matter.

Trainer Sherry Armstrong sent out a filly she believed to be named McCirca for two races at Albuquerque on Aug. 22, 2020, and Sept. 16, 2020. Armstrong said she learned shortly after the Sept. 16 race that McCirca was actually another 4-year-old filly named McMissy, also owned by Judge Lanier Racing. Both were bred by McKenna Thoroughbreds and sired by McKenna's Justice.

One major difference between the two fillies: McCirca is a bay, while McMissy is chestnut.

Both horses were part of the Judge Lanier Racing LLC Dispersal of Race Horses held online Sept. 16, 2020, through Sept. 23, 2020, conducted by ThoroughbredAuctions.com. The stable, owned by Tom and Sandy McKenna and named after Tom's grandfather, Judge C.M. Lanier, has been a leading owner in New Mexico.

The auction company was alerted to the mixup and posted the following correction on McMissy's catalogue page: “IMPORTANT UPDATE: Due to a paddock identification error, McMissy ran 8/22/20 and 9/16/21 at The Downs at Albuquerque, not McCirca. McCirca was not at the racetrack on those dates and did not race.”[

A similar message was on McCirca's page.

“I basically had nothing to do with it,” Armstrong said. “Judge Lanier sent me horses with tags on their halters. I never saw the papers. I didn't know anything about it until they went to sell them and Sandy said, 'This is a big mess.'”

Armstrong said the filly she saddled did have a microchip for identification purposes but said “our identifier is not the best.” However, Armstrong admitted, “I know it's the trainer's ultimate responsibility.”

It wasn't just the trainer or Albuquerque's horse identifier who failed to properly identify the horse. The private veterinarian who treated the horse with furosemide on race-day apparently didn't check the ID, either. (Note: New Mexico still permits private veterinarians in the stalls for furosemide shots on race-day.)

McMissy ran twice at Zia Park after the mixup, but his past performance lines for the Nov. 4, 2020, and Dec. 22, 2020, races did not include the races from Albququerque that were credited to McCirca.

McCirca ran at Albuquerque on Aug. 29, 2021, and again on Sept. 14, 2021, in what was actually her first race since March 8, 2020. However, her past performance lines include the two races at Albuquerque that should have been credited to McMissy.

Izzy Trejo, executive director of the New Mexico Racing Commission, said he had only recently been alerted to the alleged mixup and that the commission will be examining video of the races and conducting interviews to determine whether proper protocols were followed. Don Cook, the general manager at the Downs at Albuquerque, told the Paulick Report he was unaware of the mistaken identities.

Another New Mexico-based trainer, Justin Evans, was suspended 15 days and fined $5,000 for mixing up two horses from his stable entered in the same race at Albuquerque on Aug. 14. Evans criticized the equipment given to the horse identifier and the process used to confirm the identity of horses as they come into the paddock. The identifier received a $1,000 fine for the error involving the Evans horses.

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New Mexico Horsemen Sue Racing Commission To Reclaim $8 Million Collected For Jockey Insurance

The New Mexico Horsemen's Association is seeking the return of more than $8 million it alleges the New Mexico Racing Commission has been collecting improperly from horsemen since 2004 to pay liability insurance for jockeys.

The representative organization for both Thoroughbred and Quarter horse owners and trainers in New Mexico filed suit in Bernalillo County District Court on Dec. 2 against the commission – which is a part of the Tourism Department of the state of New Mexico – five commissioners and executive director Ismael “Izzy” Trejo.

The complaint, a petition for declaratory judgment and relief, outlines the responsibilities of the racing commission under New Mexico law, including how retained revenue from wagering on live and simulcast races is to be distributed.

“New Mexico law, N.M.S.A. 1978, 60-1A-19, only allows the money distributed pursuant to the Horse Racing Act, to the Horsemen to be used for two distinct and clear purposes, one for purses and the other for medical benefits of the members of the New Mexico Horsemen's Association,” the complaint states.

The horsemen allege that the New Mexico Racing Commission ordered them to divert a portion of their money to racetracks for liability insurance for jockeys.

According to the complaint, $8,426,181.09 has been taken from the New Mexico Horsemen's Association since 2004 for jockey insurance.

“The Racing Commission has no power or authority to violate the statute or to direct the money received by the Horsemen be used for another purpose other than that which the statute directs,” the complaint states.

In addition, horsemen allege the commission has improperly ordered horsemen to pay a “gate fee or starter's fee” every time a horse races.

“The costs of operating the 'gate' are and always have been an expense of the association putting on the race, that is a cost or expense of the racino and not the owner or trainer of the horse entering the gate for a scheduled race,” the complaint states, adding that “there is no provision in New Mexico law that allows the Racing Commission to access a fee to horsemen for the starter's gate.”

Finally, the complaint alleges that the New Mexico Racing Commission improperly demands the Horsemen's Association pay a fee for a license. “The Horsemen's Association does not race horses, or train horses and is a benevolent, non-profit organization and no license is required,” the complaint alleges

The suit asks the court to “order the New Mexico Racing Commission repay and return $8,426,181.09 to the New Mexico Horsemen's Association.” It also seeks an order that the New Mexico Racing Commission “cease and desist from ever directing monies be spent by the New Mexico Horsemen's that by statute are designated for certain purposes.”

Richard Erhard, executive director of the New Mexico Horsemen's Association, declined to comment on the suit. The New Mexico Racing Commission's executive director, Izzy Trejo, could not be reached for comment.

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Assistant Starter Handed Six-Month Ban By Zia Park Stewards

Assistant starter Ramon Alvarez has been ruled off for six months at Zia Park, reports the Thoroughbred Daily News, for open-handed slaps to the head of a filly in the starting gate.

The incident occurred during race four on Oct. 20, when Alvarez was responsible for Javys Brown Sugar. The Quarter Horse filly dropped her head several times in the gate, and Alvarez responded by hitting her face four times with his open hand.

“The bottom line is, this type of behavior against our horses will not be tolerated,” said Izzy Trejo, the executive director of the New Mexico Racing Commission, in an email to the TDN. “It's people like this in our industry that just pound that nail deeper into the coffin as others work diligently in trying to keep the industry afloat.”

Read more at the Thoroughbred Daily News.

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