Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil | Horse Racing Free Tips

The Week in Review: With Forte Non-DQ, NYRA Stewards Owe Public an Explanation

Why didn't the NYRA stewards disqualify Forte (Violence) from his win in a controversial running of the GII Jim Dandy S. Saturday at Saratoga? The wagering public bet $3,167,647 on the race and that doesn't include any of the horizontal wagers. After Forte and Irad Ortiz Jr. bulled their way off of the rail near the top of the stretch, bumped Angel of Empire (Classic Empire) and took away his path, it looked like the horse deserved to come down. But that didn't happen.

The bettors deserved an explanation. But none has been offered or, likely, ever will be.

Racing needs to do a better job with this. In the four major sports, when the umpires or referees review the replay of a play, they are required to announce their decision to the fans in the stands and those watching at home. They don't just tell you whether a player was safe or out, but why he was safe or out. The fan may or may not agree with the call, but, at least, they know why the officials ruled the way they did.

At Saratoga? Crickets.

Any time there is an inquiry or an objection, whether a horse is disqualified or not, the stewards should be required to come on in-house television and explain why they made the call that they did. It doesn't have to be that difficult or complicated. Something like, “the four horse bore in in the stretch, caused the jockey on the three horse to steady and cost that horse second-place, and that's why we disqualified the four horse and placed him third,” would suffice.

After the running of the 2019 GI Kentucky Derby, the Churchill Downs stewards disqualified Maximum Security (New Year's Day) and placed him 17th for interference. It took them an agonizing 22 minutes to reach a decision and they were not required to make their reasoning public. Worse yet, they met with the media and Kentucky Horse Racing Commission steward Barbara Borden read a brief and meaningless statement and refused to answer any questions.

The situation couldn't have been handled any more poorly, but at least they tried do better going forward. There have been instances at the Kentucky tracks when the stewards have gone on television to explain their rulings and the stewards there publish a daily report on the racing commission website which offers a brief explanation for any decisions they made during the course of a card.

The NYRA stewards could do the same thing, but they've apparently stopped trying. Starting in September of 2016, the NYRA website started posting what it called the Stewards' Corner, which offered explanations of the decisions made by the stewards during a race day.

This is what was posted for the 10th race on July 9, 2022.

“Stewards' inquiry into the stretch run. Late stretch #12 Heymackit'sjack (Irad Ortiz Jr.) drifts out under left handed crop forcing #5 Feathers Road(Jose Lezcano) to take up. After reviewing the video and speaking to the riders involved, the Stewards felt that #12 Heymackit'sjack did cost #5 Feathers Road a placing. #12 was disqualified from 2nd and placed 4th. The race was made official 4-1-5-12.”

That was the last item posted to the Stewards' Corner. Every decision since has gone unexplained. Why?

Such information is especially important in a situation like the Jim Dandy, a race in which the consensus seems to be that they made the wrong call. Here is the New York Gaming Commission rules regarding when a horse comes over and bothers another horse: “A horse crossing another may be disqualified, if in the judgment of the stewards, it interferes with, impedes or intimidates another horse, or the foul altered the finish of the race.”

Isn't that exactly what happened when it comes to Forte and Angel of Empire? Ortiz clearly came over, bumped and pushed Angel of Empire out, and could have cost him a placing. Despite the incident, Angel of Empire finished third and lost by just a half-length.

Worse yet, on Thursday at Saratoga, Ortiz was involved in an incident very similar to what happened in the Jim Dandy and, this time, was taken down. It happened in the seventh race, a $25,000 claimer, and Ortiz was riding a horse named Eyes on Target (Exaggerator). Ortiz got his horse hemmed in on the inside, but muscled his way out in the stretch, came over a couple of paths and bothered two horses. Eyes on Target was disqualified and placed eighth. Why was Thursday's incident cause for a DQ, but the Jim Dandy incident was not?

The stewards are allowed to make mistakes and dealing with Ortiz cannot be easy. He might be the most talented jockey in the sport, but he has no problem crossing the line. Many believe he does what he does because the NYRA stewards don't hold him accountable. Which takes us back to the Jim Dandy? Do they give Ortiz more leeway than other jockeys? Are they less inclined to take a horse down in a major race like the Jim Dandy than in a $25,000 claimer on a quiet Thursday afternoon? Or did they have a good reason for not taking Forte down, one that, when explained, might have shed some light on why they ruled the way they did?

Wouldn't it be nice to know?

Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil is a Rock Star

When Jason Servis was sentenced to four years in prison Wednesday by Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, it marked the final chapter in the long and sordid affair that began in March of 2020 when more than two dozen individuals were arrested on charges related to using performance-enhancing drugs on race horses. Getting caught was the worst thing that could have happened to these cheats. The second worst was that their cases were heard by Vyskocil.

One after another, they paraded in and out of her courtroom in lower Manhattan with their excuses and mea culpas, some of which included the defendants breaking down in tears. From the judge, they asked for some compassion and some leniency. They never got any. Not a one of them.

“You cheated, you lied and you broke the law,” Vyskocil told Servis. “You did endanger the horses in your care. Luckily, they didn't break down. You tried to gain an unfair advantage. I hope you accept that, but I don't think that you do. At the end of the day, unquestionably, you undermined the integrity of horse racing.”

It was what we had come to expect from the judge. She got it. These people were lairs and cheaters who broke the law and there was no defending what they did. And they were people who put the lives of the horses they were entrusted with in danger by using potent drugs that had the capability of doing great damage to the animal. She bristled any time one of the defendants told the court how much they loved their horses.

“You also demonstrated, Mr. Navarro, a collective, callous disregard for the well-being of the horses,” she told Jorge Navarro before sentencing him to five years in prison. “The bottom line is you likely killed or endangered the horses in your care.”

She said she would have liked to give Navarro more than five years, but that was the maximum sentence she was able to hand down. Servis also got the maximum sentence. Now, Navarro is rotting away in a federal prison and, in November, Servis will begin serving his term. They got what they deserved and that's because they came before a judge who clearly understood what had transpired and how awful these crimes were.

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The Week in Review: Rick Dutrow Has Served His Time

Monday marks an important date for trainer Rick Dutrow and his fight to get back into the sport. It was exactly 10 years ago that he started a horse named Colossal Gift (Songandaprayer) in a claiming race at Aqueduct. Then he was forced to disappear, the result of the New York State Racing and Wagering Board revoking his license for a 10-year period, which has now expired.

The regulators acted after Dutrow, always a controversial figure, had a horse he trained, Fastus Cactus (Cactus Ridge), test positive for butorphanol in his system after winning the third race at Aqueduct on Nov. 20, 2010. Around the same time, Dutrow's barn was searched and investigators claimed to have found in a desk drawer three syringes filled with a muscle relaxer, xylazine.

“New York's racing industry has no place or patience for Mr. Dutrow,” Racing and Wagering Board Chairman John Sabini said in a statement announcing that Dutrow's license had been revoked.

Dutrow's lawyers were able to delay the matter in the courts for more than two years, but eventually ran out of legal options.

Had Dutrow merely been suspended, he would be back this week. But the process has been complicated by the fact that he had his license revoked. That means he has to start from scratch and re-apply for a trainer's license. Dutrow's attorney Karen Murphy said the application has yet to be submitted, but will be done shortly. The Dutrow legal team has grown and now includes Chris Boehning, a high-profile attorney with the firm Paul Weiss.

Murphy believes that it's just a matter of time until Dutrow is allowed to return.

“He's going to get licensed,” he said. “I can't imagine that if somebody served their penalty and paid an extraordinary fine [$50,000] like he did that they wouldn't let him back. He has served his time, he has paid his fine and he has conducted himself in an exemplary manner while he's been away. So far as how Rick has conducted himself, there hasn't been one smudge. I don't know on what grounds they could deny him a license.”

Murphy estimated the process will take “a couple of months.”

But will it be that easy?

Racing is now regulated in the state by the New York Gaming Commission, which has made a number of controversial rulings of late that have had many scratching their heads. Dutrow is a polarizing figure and there are no doubt some important people who would rather he never train again. Even though the 10 years is up, with this commission there are no guarantees his application for a new license will be approved.

In the meantime, Dutrow, who declared bankruptcy in 2017 and has not worked since his license was taken away, will have to wait, exactly what he has been doing for 10 years. Will there be a another chapter to his training career? The answer is near.

Surick Named Names

With prosecutors having submitted a pre-sentencing report last week regarding convicted drug cheat Nick Surick some of the questions revolving around the former Standardbred trainer were answered.

Surick, who has admitted to drugging his own horses, as well as assisting Jorge Navarro in his doping program, will be sentenced Thursday. He is facing up to six years in prison but the government has signed off on a lesser sentence because Surick cooperated with prosecutors and offered to testify against others. Ultimately, the government felt that Surick's testimony could not be used against others because his credibility came into question when he told investigators that veterinarian Dr. Rebecca Linke injected a Standardbred he trained named Northern Virgin with EPO. Linke was able to prove she was not around the horse at the time he was drugged. The government has accepted the possibility that Surick was not lying and, rather, had trouble recollecting the exact circumstances of the Northern Virgin incident. Because Surick had tried to assist investigators, the U.S. Attorney's Office has stated its willingness to accept a lighter sentence than what he would have been given had he not cooperated. Surick's lawyer Timothy Donohue has asked the court to sentence his client to just 12 months of home confinement.

That's what we know. What we don't know is who else Surick implicated beyond those who were named in the March, 2020 indictments. The pre-sentencing submissions from both Surick's attorney and the governor confirmed that the former trainer turned over information on individuals whose names have never surfaced. Those names were originally included in the pre-sentencing reports, but were redacted.

That raises many questions. Who did he name? How many people did he name? And did he finger people in the Thoroughbred industry, the Standardbred industry or both? Would the government have gone after those people had Surick not fouled up the Linke matter, bringing his credibility into question?

Unfortunately, those questions may never be answered. Beyond the more than two dozen people indicted nearly three years ago, the government has shown no appetite for continuing its investigation and going after a new set of alleged drug cheats. And even if the names were released there would be no guarantees that the government could build a case against those individuals, when the case could come down to Surick's tainted word versus the word of someone he implicated.

Surick has not been heard from, but through Donohue we have learned more about his mind-set. Why did he become a serial cheater? The answer is troubling.

“He rationalized his misdeeds with the idea that 'everyone was doing it,'” Donohue wrote.

Does any of this mean he should be given a break? That will be left up to U.S. District Court Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil, who has been unwaveringly tough on all the drug cheats that have entered her courtroom, never once showing any signs of leniency. So maybe Surick will be sentenced to a long stint in prison. Unfortunately, it looks like he will be taking his secrets with him.

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Garcia, Navarro’s Florida Vet, to Serve 10 Months in Prison

Erica Garcia, a 44-year-old, Florida-based racetrack veterinarian who admitted to injecting purported performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) into horses trained by the now-imprisoned trainer Jorge Navarro over a several-year period in the 2010s decade, was sentenced Monday to two terms of 10 months in prison, which the judge will allow her to serve concurrently.

The sentence was the result of a plea agreement with federal prosecutors that dropped one felony charge of distributing misbranded and adulterated drugs in exchange for Garcia admitting her guilt in two “substantive” misdemeanor violations of Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act regulations.

Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil of United States District Court (Southern District of New York) also fined Garcia $2,000 and ruled that she must be under supervised release for a year after getting out of prison.

Garcia's sentence falls on the lighter side of those meted out to most other convicted defendants in the wide-ranging international racehorse doping scandal that first came to light in March 2020.

Navarro himself, for example, is serving five years in prison, and other convicted veterinarians in the case got sentences between three and 11 years.

Prosecutors had argued for a two-year prison term, the maximum sentence under federal guidelines for those crimes.

Garcia had argued for a sentence of probation only, urging the court to take into account that she is the primary caretaker and sole provider for an 11-year-old daughter.

In part, the comparatively lenient sentence was based on the feds being willing to cut Garcia a plea break because she withdrew from the Navarro conspiracy in April 2019 after “supporting her employee's decision to report a sick [Navarro-trained] horse to regulatory authorities as required by law,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing submission.

“In hindsight, I realize how stupid and careless I was,” Garcia wrote in her own sentencing submission. “I don't blame Jorge or anyone else for what has happened to me. I take full responsibility for my actions and continue to pay the ultimate price.”

But the feds stated that even though Garcia stopped working for Navarro about a year before the sweeping series of arrests and indictments, she still had to be punished for injecting the purported PEDs, some of which prosecutors said she had no idea what they were or what their supposed medical value was.

“Garcia injected horses with adulterated and misbranded drugs at Navarro's request, for the purpose of facilitating Navarro's corrupt goals of improperly doping horses to compel them to race beyond their natural abilities,” the federal sentencing submission stated.

“Even after withdrawing from the Navarro conspiracy, Garcia offered for sale and sold adulterated and misbranded drugs to others for further distribution and administration,” the government wrote.

“Garcia, as a veterinarian, provided cover for her crimes by giving the appearance that her use of medications was legal and medically necessary. By doing so, Garcia exploited the deference typically afforded to licensed veterinarians and abdicated her duty of care to the horses,” the feds stated.

“Those crimes involved Garcia's participation in a years-long scheme to administer unnecessary and potentially dangerous drugs to racehorses. Those drugs included: (1) a drug described as a blood builder, 'Monkey'; (2) a drug advertised as containing growth factors and further described as having performance-enhancing effect on horses, SGF-1000; (3) a drug from an unknown manufacturer with unknown ingredients that Garcia agreed to inject into horses' joints, called 'red acid' [and] (4) a compounded bronchodilator intended to be even more potent than Clenbuterol,” the feds stated.

“At the time Garcia agreed to administer these drugs–and during the course of the offense conduct–Garcia believed these drugs to have performance-enhancing effects, and was otherwise ignorant of their precise ingredients and how they were manufactured,” the feds summed up.

In open court in August 2021, Navarro admitted to administering illicit substances to the stakes stars of his stable, specifically citing X Y Jet, War Story, Shancelot and Sharp Azteca as examples.

The feds had been prepared to present as evidence at a trial that Garcia, in at least one wiretapped phone conversation, was the one who stuck a needle into Shancelot to send “Monkey” coursing through his system three days before the colt's racing debut.

On Feb. 13, 2019, the feds stated, Navarro raised the issue of Shancelot with Garcia and asked if she would “grease the monkey.”

Garcia responded, “Got it.”

Navarro then confirmed whether Garcia “ha[d] enough monkey,” prompting Garcia to check. “Uh, I think I have, I don't know if I have two shots. It will be damn close. Let me see. Yeah, yeah, I do.”

On Feb. 16, 2019, Shancelot would win his career debut at 12-1 odds at Gulfstream Park.

The improbably fast sprinter would win his next two starts, too, including unleashing a massive 121 Beyer Sped Figure in a 12 1/2-length romp in a Saratoga Race Course Grade II stakes.

Shancelot's jaw-dropping speed figure represented the highest Beyer by any 3-year-old sprinter in the three-decade published history of those numbers.

“To Dr. Garcia's knowledge, none of the horses she treated were harmed or suffered any ill effects,” her attorney wrote in the sentencing submission. “But of course this does not justify her behavior. She understands the very real health risks of giving unlabeled and non-FDA approved substances to animals.”

Garcia's lawyer also told the judge in the sentencing submission that even while being caught up in the doping scandal, Garcia has rebuilt her career as her court case played out, transforming from a racehorse practitioner to a small-animal veterinarian in Florida.

Garcia's attorney wrote that, “She is a force for good in her community where she runs a low-cost spay and neuter program and is among a handful of doctors able to treat exotic pets and perform surgery on goats and other farm animals.”

Vyskocil's order stated that, “The Court recommends the defendant be housed in the Fort Lauderdale area to facilitate family visits.”

Once the Bureau of Prisons designates her facility, Garcia is to report on Mar. 20, 2023.

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Servis Negotiating with Feds for Plea Bargain

The barred trainer Jason Servis, the final–and most notoriously prominent–defendant awaiting a trial or sentencing in the 2020 racehorse doping conspiracy scandal, is negotiating with federal prosecutors for a plea bargain agreement to adjudicate the three felony drug misbranding and fraud conspiracy charges he is facing for allegedly drugging almost all the Thoroughbreds under his care in 2019.

The disclosure was revealed late Friday afternoon in an otherwise routine court filing asking for an extension of time to file motions in Servis's upcoming trial, which has a Jan. 9 start date.

“The Government and counsel for defendant Jason Servis are currently in discussions regarding a potential pre-trial disposition, which may obviate the need for trial,” wrote United States Attorney Damian Williams in his letter to the court.

The request for extra time was granted by Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil of United States District Court (Southern District of New York).

The Dec. 2 filing also referenced a change-of-plea hearing that same judge had granted the day before to the New York-based veterinarian Alexander Chan, who is accused of his own trio of felony charges related to injecting purported performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) into Servis's horses and then hiding the charges from billing and veterinary records.

Chan, as part of his plea change, could very well implicate his former client, Servis, during his Dec. 5 hearing.

That's what another veterinarian who worked for Servis, Kristian Rhein, did in August 2021 when he changed his own plea to guilty on one felony count within the federal government's sprawling prosecution of an allegedly years-long conspiracy to dope racehorses. Rhein got the maximum sentence of three years imprisonment for his crimes.

Chan and Servis were scheduled to be tried together next month.

“In light of the foregoing, the parties respectfully contend that a brief adjournment of the upcoming deadline [to file motions] will facilitate the parties' ongoing efforts to reach a resolution short of trial,” Williams wrote to the judge.

The feds have already disclosed they have a trove of wiretapped evidence involving Servis speaking about his doping regimens to Rhein, Chan, and the now-imprisoned trainer Jorge Navarro, who in December 2021 was sentenced to five years behind bars for his rampant criminal usage of equine PEDs.

Some of those secretly recorded phone conversations involved the MGISW Maximum Security, who crossed the wire first in the GI Kentucky Derby, but was DQ'd for in-race interference.

One of the elixirs of choice for both Servis and Navarro was SGF-1000, a custom-made, purported PED intended to promote tissue repair and increase a racehorse's stamina and endurance beyond its natural capability. The two trainers discussed this PED in an intercepted call on March 5, 2019. The transcript reads as such:

Servis: I'll tell you what, Jorge. I'm using that [expletive] shot. What is it, SGF?

Navarro: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. I got, uh, I got more than 12 horses on that so I'll let you know, okay?

Servis: I've been using it on everything, almost.

Navarro: Jay, we'll sit down and talk about this [expletive]. I don't want to talk about this [expletive] on the phone, okay?

Servis: All right. You're right.

On June 5, 2019, a call between Servis and Rhein went like this, according to the feds:

Servis: Are you by yourself?

Rhein: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I just walked out of the barn.

Servis: Hey. So they've been doing some out-of-competition testing, which I have no problem with. Um, they took Maximum Security Monday and they came back again today. But Monday he got the KS. I just want to make sure we are all good with that.

Rhein: Wait, what did he get?

Servis: I'm sorry, I said “KS.” The, you know, your shot. The…

Rhein: Oh, the SG.

Servis: Yeah, that stuff.

Rhein: Yeah-no, no, no. The Jockey Club tested it, and I met the guy who tested it way back when. It comes back as collagen. They don't even have a test for it.

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