Jason Servis | Horse Racing Free Tips

Report: Maximum Security Pointing To Grade 2 San Diego Handicap

According to the Daily Racing Form, Eclipse Award winner Maximum Security will make his first start since February in the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap at Del Mar on July 18.

Bob Baffert, who took over training Maximum Security following the arrest for former trainer Jason Servis for charges related to doping Maximum Security and others, told the From's Steve Andersen the horse “looks fantastic.”

The colt is scheduled to work this weekend in preparation for the race.

Maximum Security was most recently seen in the $20 million Saudi Cup Feb. 29, which he won. Racing officials in Riyadh later announced they were holding the purse in that race pending the results of their own investigation following the arrest of Servis and more than two dozen others. That investigation was said to rely on getting details from FBI and others, which had gathered evidence for the U.S. federal case. That investigation remains active, according to statements by the U.S. Attorney in a status conference earlier this week.

Servis has entered a not guilty plea to the charges against him.

Superseding Indictments Could Be Coming In Federal Case Against Navarro, Servis, Etc.

Since the indictment of more than two dozen trainers, assistants, veterinarians, and pharmacists in connection with a horse doping ring this March, rumors have swirled that more names could be forthcoming in connection with the federal investigation. Speaking at a status conference for the case on Tuesday morning, Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Adams told U.S. District Judge Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil that a superseding indictment could be around the corner, but did not provide details as to the timing.

“We are looking seriously at superseding indictments,” said Adams. “For the moment, and I made this point at least to some defense counsel previously, the nature of what we're looking at is largely in the same kind of criminal conduct as what is in the current indictment. We're looking at expanding timeframes for certain of the conspiracies. We're looking at potentially adding different statutory charges with respect to certain of the defendants. What I do not anticipate for the moment is that those superseding indictments, if and when they come, would require the production of some substantial large set of materials not already produced to date or already in the queue of things we expect to produce.”

A superseding indictment is one which replaces an existing indictment, and could add charges against already-named defendants and/or could name new defendants.

Vyskocil reminded Adams that the court would not hold things up while the government finishes its investigation. Adams said he understood and that he would not ask to hold up the proceedings for that reason.

The charges on the current indictments, which names former top trainers Jorge Navarro and Jason Servis, among others, focus on drug adulteration, misbranding, and conspiracy. The indictments claim a network of horsemen, veterinarians and pharmacy reps sold, distributed and used drugs in racehorses for the purpose of performance enhancement.

Other than a potential superseding indictment, there are not likely to be many updates in the case until late fall. Currently, attorneys are going through the discovery process, meaning each side is requesting and providing requested evidence in the case. Adams said he believes his office will be able to provide the last of the discovery material requested by defendants by the end of September.

Already, the office has provided some 90 gigabytes' worth of data to all defendants in three different volumes, and has fielded 20 additional individual requests. That data includes the results of 30 different search warrants, intercepted phone calls and text messages, geolocation information for various devices, email accounts, file transfer accounts, inventory lists, shipping records, veterinary records, drug promotional and marketing material, and much more. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is still extracting data from devices like cell phones and tablets seized from defendants at the time of their arrests.

After the government produces requested evidence, it is sent to a coordinating discovery attorney for organization and distribution. One defense attorney pointed out that it generally takes the coordinating discovery attorney roughly a month to process large document releases before they are given over to defense counsel, so a late September target for discovery completion means they will get a look at the last of the evidence in early November.

Vyskocil scheduled a status conference for Nov. 19. Most participants on the call agreed it would be impractical to set a trial date or motion schedule until the defense has seen all the government's evidence against their clients.

Read more about the federal indictments in this March 9 piece from the Paulick Report.

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Midnight Bisou in the Classic? Why Not?

The Week in Review, by Bill Finley

There was no word Sunday from the camp of Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute) regarding where their mare would run next and what the long-term goals are for the season. But we know this much: Midnight Bisou is outstanding, her connections took on males once, in the Saudi Cup, and the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic is a lot bigger deal than the GI Breeders’ Cup Distaff. Does that add up to her starting in the Classic? Fans of this sport can only hope that it does.

Midnight Bisou destroyed her competition in last Saturday’s GII Fleur de Lis S. at Churchill Downs, which was no easy assignment. She hadn’t raced since the Feb. 29 Saudi Cup and was facing at least one horse who, on paper, looked like she might beat her. Serengeti Empress (Alternation) is at her very best when able to get loose on the lead and, as expected, that’s the trip she got Saturday. But no filly was going to beat Midnight Bisou on this day. With Mike Smith never asking for her best, the champion won by 8 1/4 lengths.

One race later, perhaps the best older male in training, Tom’s d’Etat (Smart Strike), was also an impressive winner, cruising to a 4 1/4-length win in the GII Stephen Foster S. He completed the mile and an eighth in 1:47.30 and got a 109 Beyer figure. Midnight Bisou ran the same distance in 1:48.99 and her Beyer number was a 93.

But that doesn’t necessarily mean he is the better horse or had the better day. For Midnight Bisou to have run as fast as Tom’s d’Etat, she would have to have won by about 16 1/2 lengths. With the race wrapped up when she made her ground-gobbling move on the far turn, there was no reason for Smith to ask for anything extra in the stretch.

Rather than worrying about who was better, maybe the right thing to do is to concede that both Midnight Bisou and Tom’s d’Etat were very good and that there is no fair way to compare their races.

Midnight Bisou will be stabled at Saratoga. A start in the Aug. 1 GI Personal Ensign S. makes the most sense for her. But the bigger question is where will she run in the Breeders’ Cup? The safe thing to do would be to run in the Distaff. The more adventurous, potentially more rewarding spot is the Classic. It’s worth $7 million. The Distaff goes for $2 million. A filly that wins the Classic becomes an immortal. A filly that wins the Distaff may find it hard to stand out among the other 33 fillies or mares who have won the race. Unless Tiz the Law (Constitution) wins the Triple Crown, there will likely be a handful of Horse of the Year candidates racing on the Breeders’ Cup card. A win by Midnight Bisou in the Classic might just put her over the top, giving her the Horse of the Year title she lost out on in 2019.

Here’s another thing to consider: if Monomoy Girl (Tapizar), Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil) and Gamine (Into Mischief) run up to expectations throughout the year, might the Distaff be a tougher assignment than the Classic?

Whenever a top filly faces the boys, it turns a race into an event. It’s good for the sport and something we don’t see nearly enough. Bob Baffert has said there is an outside chance that Gamine goes in a traditional Triple Crown race. Let’s hope that she does. Newspaperofrecord (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) was very impressive winning the GI Just a Game S. Saturday at Belmont. Afterward, trainer Chad Brown said races against males could be on her schedule. That’s terrific news.

Jeff Bloom of Bloom Racing has plenty of time to make up his mind. But he shows every sign of being someone who is not afraid to aim high. He brought Midnight Bisou back when she was five and sent her halfway around the globe to compete against males in the Saudi Cup. My guess is she will run in the Classic. It would be great if I am right.

Good News and Bad News on Canterbury Pick 5

When Canterbury Park announced that it was going to offer a Pick 5 with a 10% takeout at this meet, no one knew what to expect or how horseplayers would react. The hope was that by offering the lowest takeout bet in the sport, Canterbury would lure gamblers that otherwise wouldn’t have paid any attention to their simulcast.

Seven racing days into the meet, there’s little doubt that customers will react to the pricing of bets. With a June 18 card canceled after three races, there have been seven days at the meet in which a Pick 5 was offered and the average handle on the bet is $95,261. That may not seem like a lot, but it is for a B-level track racing only on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

It’s not easy comparing that to past years, as the Pick 5 between 2017 and 2019 was a jackpot style bet. In 2016, the total pool was usually less than $10,000.

Canterbury’s experiment has been a success, but it was not a good sign that the three lowest Pick 5 pools of the meet all occurred last week, when the average pool fell to $78,825. That probably means there were a lot of curiosity seekers the first week and some have moved on.

Canterbury may not have the class and quality of Santa Anita, Belmont and Gulfstream, but gamblers need to support this bet. Why shouldn’t it handle $300,000 or $400,000 a day? We spend a lot of time complaining about how high the takeout is. The best way to get the industry to change is to bet more on the lower takeout bets like Canterbury’s Pick 5 and less on the ones that gouge you at 20% or more.

Firenze Fire Back In Winner’s Circle for Breen

Firenze Fire (Poseidon’s Warrior) threw in a dud in the June 6 GI Carter H., finishing fourth. That it was his first start for Kelly Breen after racing for Jason Servis was obviously notable. In March, Servis was indicted and charged with using performance-enhancing drugs on his horses. It was easy to conclude that Firenze Fire couldn’t do as well for Breen as he did for Servis because he would be running without performance-enhancers for his new barn.

The story took another twist Saturday in the GII True North S. at Belmont. The old Firenze Fire was back. The 11-10 favorite, he won by 1 1/2 lengths.

It’s hard to say why he ran so much better in the True North than he did in the Carter. But what is clear is that the majority of horses that had been trained by Jason Servis and Jorge Navarro that have run back have fared better than most expected. That doesn’t mean that Servis and Navarro weren’t doping their horses. But why are these horses running so well for “clean” programs? That’s anyone’s guess.

A Toast to Dean Martini

For no other reason than his name is so clever, it would be fun to see GIII Ohio Derby winner Dean Martini (Cairo Prince) win a few more big races. For now, though, the connections should enjoy a big win and pat themselves on the back for reading the tea leaves when it comes to the 3-year-old races.

Tom Amoss claimed Dean Martini for $50,000 out of a May 17 maiden claimer at Churchill. He came back to finish second in a June 12 allowance at Churchill. Not many trainers would have come back in 16 days, but Amoss realized the $500,000 Ohio Derby purse was there for the taking. Against the level of competition he faced, Dean Martini didn’t even need to improve to win.

In this strangest of years, we went from having too few races for 3-year-olds to having too many. The second tier 3-year-old races all figure to come up weak and may be won by more Dean Martinis of the world.

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Former Navarro, Servis Horses Back in Winner’s Circle

When Note to Selfie (Big Drama) showed up in the seventh race last Wednesday at Gulfstream, many handicappers surely dismissed the $8,000 claimer. In her most recent start, she finished a non-threatening sixth at the same $8,000 claiming level Feb. 16, and that was for trainer Jorge Navarro. Since that race, Navarro was indicted for allegedly using performance-enhancing drugs on virtually every horse he started. If Note to Selfie couldn’t win for Navarro, how would she do for her new trainer, Elizabeth Dobles? Dobles is competent, but has never produced the kind of too-good-to-be-true results Navarro did before his career was halted by an FBI investigation.

“Of course, I thought the horse was going to run worse,” Dobles said. “I didn’t think she was going to win by any means. I wanted to use the race to gauge where we were at. It was a starting point. If she didn’t hit the board, I would have dropped her down. If she ran ok, maybe second or third, I was going to keep her at the same claiming level.”

Dobles got her answer. Note to Selfie won by a nose and paid $24.40. She ran a 56 Beyer. In three starts after Navarro claimed the filly from Scott Gelner, her Beyer numbers were 50, 42, 48.

And Note to Selfie is not an outlier. Rather, she represents a surprising pattern, that many of the horses that had been trained Navarro or Jason Servis, who was also indicted for doping, that have resurfaced are showing no signs of having regressed for their new connections.

With Equibase providing the data, the TDN studied 39 horses that had been in the barns of Servis or Navarro when they were indicted. The horse had to have raced for either trainer at some point from Jan. 1 on and then return for a new trainer between May 18 and June 17.

Twenty-three horses that were trained by Navarro have run back and four have won in their first start for their new stables and 12 have finished in the money. Sixteen horses that had started for Servis have run back, three have won and nine have finished in the money. Combining the stats for the two trainers, seven of 39 starters have won for a rate of 17.9%. Twenty-one of 39, or 53.8%, have finished in the money.

The Beyer figures also show surprising results.

Among the former Navarro horses that have run back, 10 have run faster, 10 have run slower and the figure for one horse was the same for both races. As for Servis, six show improved Beyer numbers and 10 ran a slower number.

Excluding horses that switched surfaces, 16 former Navarro horses have run back and, on average, they ran 2.5 Beyer numbers faster for their trainers than they did in their last start for Navarro. Using the same criteria for the Servis horses, they declined, on average, by 7.16 Beyer points.

There is a similar pattern on the Thorograph sheets.

“So far there hasn’t been much difference in their figures before and after, but it’s early,” said Thorograph owner Jerry Brown.

Some trainers had little problem getting the horses to maintain their form. Todd Pletcher received eight horses that had been trained by Navarro and had run four through June 17. Three have won and a fourth ran second. Kelly Breen hasn’t been as fortunate. He has gone one for five with former Servis horses and four have finished out of the money. That includes former Servis-trainee Firenze Fire (Poseidon’s Warrior). A Grade I winner, he was a lackluster fourth in the GI Carter H., beaten 12 1/4 lengths. He ran an 86 Beyer in the Carter after running a 102 in his last start for Servis.

Trainer Terri Pompay has claimed two horses off Navarro since December, with very different results. That has given her some insights into the Navarro program.

Navarro claimed Cool Arrow (Into Mischief) off of Pompay for $62,500 Dec. 27, in a winning effort. The horse resurfaced Feb. 7 for his new trainer and ran a poor fifth for $62,500. Pompay claimed him back and, since, the horse has been much better than the one Navarro ran for the one start. Cool Arrow ran a good fourth in his first start for Pompay and then won a $62,500 claimer Sunday at Gulfstream. After running a 72 Beyer for Navarro, the horse has turned in Beyer figures of 92 and 93.

Pompay believes that the Navarro training routine did not fit this particular horse.

“I wasn’t really nervous about claiming him back because I didn’t think he had him long enough for there to be a problem,” she said. “When I got the horse back he was really thin. I just think he trained him a lot harder than we did. I don’t know what else was going on. He came back and didn’t look like the same horse. Whatever his program was, that horse did not do well in it. I don’t know if he injected him or not. I do know that he’s a big horse who likes to carry a little weight on him. I think they did too much with him.”

She wasn’t nearly as fortunate with Benefactor (More Than Ready). She claimed him off Navarro for $62,500 Jan. 23 at Gulfstream, and the horse ran second that day. Pompay has run him back four times since. He has not finished in the money and has lost those starts by a combined 70 3/4 lengths. On Saturday at Gulfstream, he finished eighth and last, beaten 24 3/4 lengths, in a $30,000 claimer.

“He is sound but just has not run for me,” Pompay said. “We have run him back a few times and he never picks up his feet. We can’t find anything to fix and there isn’t anything obvious to tell us why he isn’t running better. He trains ok in the morning, but in his races he just doesn’t have the fire he used to have. Is it just that he’s run and run over the past couple of years before I got him and he is on the downside of his career? Or is it for other reasons? That’s something we are never going to know.”

There will be more tests to come for the Navarro and Servis horses. All eyes will be on Maximum Security (New Year’s Day) when he makes his return to the races for new trainer Bob Baffert. He was widely considered the best horse in training and if he cannot come back and win at the Grade I level there will be plenty of finger pointing.

After the indictments came out Mar. 9, Gulfstream announced that any horse that had been trained by Servis or Navarro could not run for 60 days and could only come back after working before a vet and undergoing tests to declare whether they had any drugs remaining in their system. More than 100 horses were involved and that, as of, June 17, only 39 horses had run back might be significant. Where are the other 61-plus horses and could their trainers be having a difficult time getting them back to the races?

Those answers may be months away. For now, based on the data that is available, horses coming out of the Servis and Navarro barns don’t seem to be having much of a problem maintaining their form.

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