J. Michael Hopkins | Horse Racing Free Tips

Sanchez Suspended, Gambling an Outlet for Depression

Jockey Mychel Sanchez, who has been suspended 60 days by the Pennsylvania Racing Commission for betting on horses other than the ones he rode, is not a cheat or a race-fixer, his attorney told the TDN Friday. Rather, said lawyer Alan Pincus, Sanchez was dealing with a serious case of depression and took to gambling as an outlet. Pincus said that in all instances Sanchez tried his best to win the races in question, whether he had bet against his own horse or not.

“It was clear he was giving his best effort,” Pincus said. “He was not fixing races. He won several of the races in which he bet against his horses. The horse paid $37 in one race, $27 in another. He was just doing something crazy that only a psychiatrist can explain.”

With Sanchez's main track, Parx, dark Friday, the jockey was listed on two mounts at Laurel. After the Maryland Racing Commission learned of the Pennsylvania suspension, Sanchez was taken of his mounts. The Maryland Jockey Club and 1/ST RACING issued a statement later in the day in which it said Sanchez has been banned indefinitely.

“After learning of the serious allegations of illegal wagering on the part of jockey Mychel Sanchez, effective immediately 1/ST RACING will institute an indefinite ban against him from training or racing at any 1/ST RACING venue,” read a statement issued by 1/ST RACING. “Any decision regarding Sanchez's reinstatement will be made at a later time. 1/ST RACING stands on the principles of integrity and accountability, and we believe there is no place in our sport for this kind of unethical and illegal activity.”

Tom Chuckas, the director of the Thoroughbred division of the Pennsylvania Racing Commission, was not available to the media. A call to his office went to voice mail and no one returned the call from the TDN seeking comment. There was nothing related to Sanchez's suspension on the page on the Pennsylvania Racing Commission's website listing rulings. An official ruling will likely be issued following a regularly scheduled commission meeting next week.

Should Chuckas ever make himself available, he will likely be asked to explain what appears to be a serious offense resulted in a suspension of just 60 days.

“Mychal is a straight shooter and he has worked hard and with skill and talent has risen to a very strong position,” Pincus said. “He is the sole support for his family both here and in Venezuela and life, on the surface, was great for him. But, he was feeling depressed. And he was not doing anything to deal with it. He was just turning inward. He turned to gambling on the races for a very short period of time. I'm not a psychiatrist, but he was doing this to numb the pain.”

Pincus said that Sanchez opened a TVG account in his own name and began betting Dec. 23 and made his last bets Jan. 3. He went six for 28 during that period. During that time, he also rode at Aqueduct and at Laurel. Pincus said he was not sure whether or not Sanchez also bet against his mounts in New York and Maryland or just at Parx. If he bet against himself in New York or in Maryland, he could face additional penalties from those states.

“We will look into this,” said J. Michael Hopkins, the executive director of the Maryland Racing Commission. “But right now he's suspended in Pennsylvania, so there's no need to be in a rush because he doesn't ride here regularly. But we will definitely take a look at it.”

TVG employees noticed that the jockey had been betting against his own horses and notified the appropriate racing commissions.

Having, through his lawyer, admitted that he bet against his own horses, Sanchez will not fight the suspension.

“He was suspended 60 days starting [Friday] to the 21st of March,” Pincus said. “Obviously, it was warranted. We are not going to appeal this.”

Pincus said that Sanchez has already enrolled in a problem gambling program and has also sought out psychiatric help.

“He just did something because of a mental problem,” Pincus said. “People are responsible for their own actions, but he has to be viewed with sympathy.”

Sanchez began riding in the U.S. in 2013 and was the leading rider at Parx in 2020. According to Equibase, he's won 940 races from 6,097 mounts.

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Cluster of Deaths At Laurel Puts Maryland Racing In Limbo

Seven Laurel Park horses have died since Nov. 6, and eight total have perished this autumn after sustaining fractures while racing or training over the newly installed main dirt track there.

The most recent death occurred in Laurel's eighth race Nov. 28, and training has been curtailed in the three days since then. A portion of the surface has been dug up in mid-stretch to allow an influx of track maintenance consultants to try and discover if there is an underlying problem that needs to be addressed.

Laurel's next scheduled racing date is Friday, Dec. 3, but it could be in jeopardy, according to Alan Foreman, an attorney who represents the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association.

“We've looked at every potential factor, and what we're focusing in on right now is the racing surface at Laurel,” Foreman said. “I think everybody understands that's what we're looking at, because with this red-flag cluster of fatalities, most of them were happening at about the same spot on the racetrack,” which he described as being in the middle of the homestretch.

“If there is a short-term remedy, then we'll try to implement a short-term remedy. If it's a longer-term issue, we'll have to address all of those factors. The expectation is that we're going to be able to start training on the surface this weekend, and we can resume racing next week,” Foreman said.

But, Foreman was quick to add, “We should not allow these horses to race on this surface until we feel certain that it's a safe racetrack.”

At 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Mike Rogers, the president of the racing division for The Stronach Group (TSG), which owns Laurel, told TDN via phone that he could not immediately comment on when racing would resume. He said a press release detailing that decision was in the process of being drafted by TSG executives.

No timed workouts have been allowed at Laurel since Sunday, although horses have been permitted to gallop around the cordoned-off section of the homestretch, Rogers said.

Rogers said that on Nov. 23, a “minor maintenance” issue was identified in the homestretch. “It was a minor settlement in the base that we dealt with. Our crew found it. We're dealing with it. So that was the reason that the 'dogs' were up. We pulled up the cushion, and did some maintenance to that little bit of settlement that took place….before the sixteenth pole,” he said.

“We're planning timed workouts for Saturday, Dec. 4,” Rogers said.

The cluster of fatalities is the latest safety blow at Maryland's premier racing and training venue. Laurel had ceased racing back on Apr. 11 to begin an emergency, multi-million-dollar overhaul of the main track, which got rebuilt from the base up over the course of four months in an effort to solve substantial deterioration brought on by years of near-daily usage and piecemeal repairs to fix myriad problems.

“Whenever you put a new surface down, that can create problems of its own, so you have to be careful when you come back,” Foreman said. He added that when the new main track at Laurel opened Sept. 9, “We started out fine with it.”

The Maryland Racing Commission (MRC) confirmed the names and dates of the horses who have perished by providing an equine fatalities report to TDN on Wednesday. Counting only deaths from fractures on the main track since the new surface was installed, Laurel's first catastrophic injury occurred Oct. 3, when a $10,000 maiden-claiming filly named Kyosha lost her action near the three-quarters pole in a seven-furlong sprint. The Equibase chart stated she was vanned off.

There were then no main-track fatalities until Nov. 6, when the 3-year-old filly Bella Thyme died either during or after a workout.

On Nov. 13, Bust'em Kurt, a 2-year-old colt, was racing in the first flight of a pack of horses in a MSW six-furlong sprint when he unseated his rider at the top of the stretch after suffering a fatal injury.

On Nov. 19, the fatally injured 3-year-old gelding Gale Winds was vanned off after being pulled up in the early stages of a six-furlong NW2L $10,000 claiming sprint.

On Nov. 25, the 5-year-old gelding Manicomio fell while on lead at the three-sixteenths pole. The Equibase chart stated he was euthanized on the track.

The MRC fatalities report lists a horse named Golden Sky as having died during or after a Nov. 27 workout (Equibase does not list any currently active horses of racing age under that name).

Two horses trained by prominent Maryland conditioner Dale Capuano also recently perished: One was the 2-year-old gelding American Playboy, who, according to Equibase, was “injured past the eighth pole and had to be vanned off” this past Sunday in a six-furlong allowance/optional claimer.

The other was the promising Moquist, a 3-year-old filly with a 4-for-4 record who was a half-sister to recent GI Breeders' Cup Sprint victor Aloha West (Hard Spun). According to the MRC, she died Nov. 21 during or after a workout.

Michael Hopkins, the MRC's executive director, told TDN that from his perspective, all stakeholders appear to be working together in an effort to solve whatever is causing the fatalities.

“The commission's concerned about it, number one,” Hopkins said. “Number two, TSG has brought their people in from California. [Noted track superintendent] Dennis Moore is here. The horsemen have hired John Passero, who used to be the track superintendent [in Maryland] as an independent party to give his opinion of what he sees one way or the other.

“Hopefully, they'll come to a conclusion of what is best to address any issues that the track may have,” Hopkins continued. “My understanding is that they're being collaborative [and] understanding each other's positions and points of view. [But] where that sits right now I just don't know. John has been here since Monday. Dennis came in Tuesday night, I think.”

One aspect that has been a factor in the stability and safety of previous versions of the Laurel main track could be coming into play right now: the most recent seven fatalities have all occurred since the onset of colder weather, which, when coupled with moisture, can cause unevenness to develop.

During a Nov. 10 teleconference, Laurel track superintendent Chris Bosley said that the clay content in the new dirt track “is higher than was anticipated, so we'll be adding straight silica sand, which is 100% pure and has smaller grains. It will help break up the material a little bit, help loosen up the track, and help dry it out quicker. Moisture stays underneath and the material is bonding, so we'll introduce silica sand to break it up and probably slow down the track a bit. Silica sand is aggressive–and expensive–so we're going to do the process really slow.”

Although both Hopkins and Foreman told TDN the onset of colder weather could be a contributing cause to the racetrack's problems, they both underscored that equine fatalities can be deeply multi-factorial in nature, which makes it difficult to pin down any one issue that needs to be corrected.

“They're looking at everything. They're looking at a very broad spectrum here to make sure everything is right. Just from what we see, something's not right. It doesn't feel right,” Hopkins said. “Are there problems with the horses? I don't know. We have not had the opportunity to gather the facts as far as medical histories, vet records, and those types of things off of those horses to sit down and evaluate them one by one.”

Added Foreman: “It's not the horsemen. It's not medication. It's not running bad horses. You look at everything, but you look for the common denominator. It appears to be the racing surface, and that's what we're focusing in on.”

If the fix ends up being more complicated than expected, the prospect of having to transfer racing over to Pimlico Race Course (TSG's other Maryland track some 30 miles north in Baltimore) would be a much more daunting endeavor during the winter than it was last spring, when Pimlico was getting ready for its GI Preakness S. meet but ended up hosting Maryland racing through August. At that time, all horses were moved out of Laurel and split between stabling areas at Pimlico and the Timonium fairgrounds. But at this point in the year, neither of those venues is winter-ready to host massive numbers of horses.

“The problem with Pimlico is there's no place for the horses to train, unless we allow training at Laurel,” Foreman said. “That's the problem with the consolidation of racing here–we don't have a backup if the dirt surface at Laurel is out of commission.”

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No Lasix in Maryland’s Graded Stakes Starting in 2021

The Maryland Racing Commission (MRC) voted unanimously Wednesday to expand a race-day Lasix ban that began this year with 2-year-olds to include horses of any age competing in graded stakes starting in 2021.

“A few months ago, the commission passed an emergency regulation restricting Lasix to any horse that’s two years old for the next three years, as part of [a negotiated] agreement between the HBPA and The Stronach Group,” J. Michael Hopkins, the MRC’s executive director, explained prior to the vote during the Dec. 2 teleconference meeting.

“Moving forward, it also included graded stakes races beginning in calendar year 2021,” Hopkins said. “What this regulation does is extend that restriction for 2-year-olds to include any horse [of any age] running in a graded stakes going forward in accordance with that agreement.”

Prior to the vote, commissioner David Hayden, who has bred Thoroughbreds at Dark Hollow Farm near Baltimore for three-plus decades, asked for a clarification on the current Lasix rule for 2-year-olds. He wanted to know if the current crop of juveniles who have been racing without Lasix this season will be able to receive it in Maryland once they turn three Jan. 1.

Hopkins confirmed that yes, the current crop of juveniles will be permitted Lasix in less than a month after starting their Maryland careers without it.

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Hayden replied. “But, what do I know?”

The MRC unanimously approved two other rule changes during Wednesday’s meeting.

The first tweaked the existing regulation on shock wave therapy. Currently, Hopkins explained, horses can’t race in Maryland for 10 days after receiving that treatment. The revised version of the rule now prohibits shock-waved horses from working out on the track during that same 10-day post-treatment window.

Another rule change will require trainers and assistants to affirm that they have participated in four hours of continuing education programming prior to being granted a license. Although this rule doesn’t take effect until Jan. 1, 2022, the coursework itself must be completed during calendar year 2021.

The MRC also proposed a new rule, based on recent discussions with horse people and track officials, to extend the right for a new owner to void a claim if the state veterinarian observes that a claimed horse is lame while cooling out in the test barn up to one hour after a race.

Although this rule still has to be published in the state register and go through a public commentary phase before it can be voted in for good, Hopkins suggested that commissioners adopt it as an emergency regulation simultaneous to that process, “to move it forward in a more expeditious manner.” Thus, it takes effect right away.

Sal Sinatra, the president of the Maryland Jockey Club, which owns Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course, gave commissioners a brief update on the grass course at Laurel.

“We’re putting our turf course to bed,” Sinatra said. “We have some sand coming in next week; we have a deep drill-and-fill process that’s going to happen the week after on the turn. It doesn’t drain. We’ve reached out to some consultants [and] a company from Virginia is coming to dig down about 12 to 18 inches to put some sand in that turn to help with drainage. Just preparing [for next season] as we move forward.”

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Timonium’s 10-Day Meet Could Extend Beyond Maryland State Fair in ’21

The Timonium race meet that got scrapped because of the pandemic this summer could to be back in action in 2021. The Maryland Racing Commission approved a 10-date slate for next year at its Oct. 22 meeting, with a new wrinkle to the schedule.

“One thing that is a little different here, they’re also requesting, in addition to the seven days they normally would run during the state fair, [permission to operate Sept.] 10th, 11th and 12, which is a weekend after the fair is closed,” J. Michael Hopkins, the MRC’s executive director, said prior to the unanimous vote. “It is the first time they have done that that I can recall.”

Hopkins added that Timonium has had clearance to race

10 dates in the past in conjunction with the Maryland State Fair. But in recent seasons the applicant has only scheduled seven programs, all while the fair is operational at the same property.

Hopkins said it was his belief there would be no overlap with Laurel Park, whose meet traditionally follows the fair’s short season.

“They’re having the discussions with the Maryland Jockey Club [which owns Laurel] where scheduling is concerned,” Hopkins said. “[The two racetracks] preliminarily are in agreement with all of this. Secondarily, the purpose of this [vote] is to get the dates approved, and if there are any adjustments going forward we can come back and revisit them.”

A full calendar of 2021 Thoroughbred dates was unanimously approved for Laurel, Pimlico Race Course, and Timonium on Thursday. But the specific dates of all the individual meets were not read into the record, and it was unclear whether they had even been assigned. Via email, TDN subsequently requested the full calendar from Hopkins, but that query did not yield a reply prior to deadline for this story.

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