los alamitos | Horse Racing Free Tips

Baltas Hearing Rescheduled, Entries Denied by Los Al Stewards

Last month, the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) issued a complaint against trainer Richard Baltas alleging that between Apr. 15 and May 8 this year, 23 horses in his care had been administered on race-day a substance containing the plant extracts higenamine and paenol in violation of the board's rules.

A hearing on the complaint, originally scheduled for early and then possibly late July, is now set for Aug. 3 with the Del Mar stewards beginning at 9 a.m., according to CHRB spokesperson, Mike Marten, in an email Friday afternoon.

In that same email, the CHRB wrote that Baltas–whose license remains active pending the hearing–had attempted to enter horses during the daytime Thoroughbred meet at Los Alamitos, but that the stewards denied those entries on June 28.

That meet runs June 25 through July 10.

The stewards' decision was based on two CHRB rules, one for good cause and the second giving stewards' discretion over entries and declarations, wrote Marten.

“All entries and declarations are under the supervision of the stewards, and they may, without notice, refuse the entries of any person or the transfer of any entries, and they may also, in their discretion, limit entries by providing that no horse shall be listed for more than one race in any one day,” CHRB Rule 1580 states.

According to Marten, Baltas has appealed that decision by the stewards, with an appeal hearing not yet scheduled.

The TDN reached out to Baltas by text but did not receive a response before publication.

According to the original complaint, surveillance video at Santa Anita caught Baltas' employees allegedly administering the substance to the horses on the days they were entered to race.

In California, trainers face tight restrictions about what medications and supplements can be given to a horse within 48 and 24 hours of a race.

A subsequent analysis of the substance by the University of California, Davis, allegedly found the presence of higenamine and paenol, both of which are plant extracts.

According to the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), Higenamine is a chemical found in a variety of plants, and can act as an anti-asthmatic to open up airways.

Higenamine is also becoming more commonly found in dietary supplements for human athletes, as per USADA's website.

A CHRB investigation was triggered on May 8, when the Baltas-trained Noble perfection was a late scratch from the 10th race at Santa Anita.

At the same time, 1/ST Racing, which operates Santa Anita, banned the trainer from running and working horses at 1/ST-owned facilities. On May 7, the Baltas-trained Speedcuber suffered a sesamoid injury, and was euthanized two-days later.

Baltas had no runners at Santa Anita between 1/ST's announcement and the end of the meet, on June 19.

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Weekly Rulings: June 28-July 3

Every week, the TDN publishes a roundup of key official rulings from the primary tracks within the four major racing jurisdictions of California, New York, Florida and Kentucky.
Here's a primer on how each of these jurisdictions adjudicates different offenses, what they make public (or not) and where.

CALIFORNIA
Track: Los Alamitos
Date: 07/01/2022
Licensee: Diego Herrera, jockey
Penalty: $1,000 fine
Violation: Excessive use of the whip
Explainer: Jockey Diego Herrera is fined $1,000.00 for violation of California Horse Racing Board rule #1688(b)(8)(d) (Use of Riding Crop – more than six times – third offense in the last sixty days) during the fifth race at Los Alamitos Race Course on June 26, 2022.

Track: Los Alamitos
Date: 07/01/2022
Licensee: Randal Gindi, owner
Penalty: Restoration of good standing
Violation: N/A
Explainer: Owner Randal Gindi (dba Monster Racing) having satisfied a financial complaint filed by Bob Hubbard Horse Transport for $1,180.00, is restored to good standing and California Horse Racing Board ruling LAFL Ruling #06 is set aside.

Track: Los Alamitos
Date: 07/02/2022
Licensee: Edgar Payeras, jockey
Penalty: One day suspension, $250 fine
Violation: Excessive use of the whip
Explainer: Having violated the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority Rule #2280 (Use of Riding Crop) and pursuant to Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority Rule #2282 (Riding Crop Violations and Penalties – Class 3), Jockey Edgar Payeras, who rode Bob's Sniper in the first race at Los Alamitos Race Course on July 1, 2022, is suspended for 1 day (July 9, 2022), and fined $250.00 for one (1) strike over the limit. Furthermore, Jockey Edgar Payeras is assigned three (3) violation points that will be expunged on January 2, 2023, six (6) months from the date of final adjudication pursuant to Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority Rule #2282 (Riding Crop Violations and Penalties).

Track: Los Alamitos
Date: 07/02/2022
Licensee: Erick Garcia, jockey
Penalty: One day suspension, $250 fine
Violation: Excessive use of the whip
Explainer: Having violated the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority Rule #2280 (Use of Riding Crop) and pursuant to Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority Rule #2282 (Riding Crop Violations and Penalties – Class 3), Jockey Erick Garcia, who rode Fun Coupons in the third race at Los Alamitos Race Course on July 1, 2022, is suspended for 1 day (July 9, 2022), and fined $250.00 for one (1) strike over the limit. Furthermore, Jockey Erick Garcia is assigned three (3) violation points that will be expunged on January 2, 2023, six (6) months from the date of final adjudication pursuant to Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority Rule #2282 (Riding Crop Violations and Penalties).

Track: Los Alamitos
Date: 07/02/2022
Licensee: James Marsden, owner
Penalty: Restoration of good standing
Violation: N/A
Explainer: Owner James Marsden having satisfied a financial complaint filed by Steven Cole Ranch for $4,893.33, is restored to good standing and California Horse Racing Board ruling LATS Ruling #10 dated January 12, 2020, is set aside.

Track: Los Alamitos
Date: 07/03/2022
Licensee: Abdul Alsagoor, jockey
Penalty: One day suspension, $250 fine
Violation: Excessive use of the whip
Explainer: Having violated the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority Rule #2280 (Use of Riding Crop) and pursuant to Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority Rule #2282 (Riding Crop Violations and Penalties – Class 3), Apprentice Jockey Abdul Alsagoor, who rode Stanford North in the fourth race at Los Alamitos Race Course on July 2, 2022, is suspended for 1 day (July 10, 2022), and fined $250.00 for one (1) strike over the limit. Furthermore, Apprentice Jockey Abdul Alsagoor is assigned three (3) violation points that will be expunged on January 3, 2023, six (6) months from the date of final adjudication pursuant to Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority Rule #2282 (Riding Crop Violations and Penalties).

Track: Los Alamitos
Date: 07/03/2022
Licensee: Francisco Orduna-Rojas, jockey
Penalty: One day suspension, $250 fine
Violation: Excessive use of the whip
Explainer: Having violated the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority Rule #2280 (Use of Riding Crop) and pursuant to Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority Rule #2282 (Riding Crop Violations and Penalties – Class 3), Jockey Francisco Orduna-Rojas, who rode Rawhide Rawlins in the third race at Los Alamitos Race Course on July 2, 2022, is suspended for 1 day (July 10, 2022), and fined $250.00 for one (1) strike over the limit. Furthermore, Jockey Francisco Orduna-Rojas is assigned three (3) violation points that will be expunged on January 3, 2023, six (6) months from the date of final adjudication pursuant to Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority Rule #2282 (Riding Crop Violations and Penalties).

Track: Los Alamitos
Date: 07/04/2022
Licensee: Diego Herrera, jockey
Penalty: One day suspension, $250 fine
Violation: Excessive use of the whip
Explainer: Having violated the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority Rule #2280 (Use of Riding Crop) and pursuant to Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority Rule #2282 (Riding Crop Violations and Penalties – Class 3), Jockey Diego Herrera, who rode Wizard of Westwood in the seventh race at Los Alamitos Race Course on July 3, 2022, is suspended for 1 day (July 22, 2022), and fined $250.00 for one (1) strike over the limit. Furthermore, Jockey Diego Herrera is assigned three (3) violation points that will be expunged on January 4, 2023, six (6) months from the date of final adjudication pursuant to Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority Rule #2282 (Riding Crop Violations and Penalties).

Track: Los Alamitos
Date: 07/04/2022
Licensee: Ricardo Ramirez, jockey
Penalty: One day suspension, $250 fine
Violation: Excessive use of the whip
Explainer: Having violated the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority Rule #2280 (Use of Riding Crop) and pursuant to Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority Rule #2282 (Riding Crop Violations and Penalties – Class 3), Apprentice Jockey Ricardo Ramirez, who rode It's My House in the eighth race at Los Alamitos Race Course on July 3, 2022, is suspended for ONE (1) day (July 22, 2022), and fined $250.00 for one (1) strike over the limit. Furthermore, Apprentice Jockey Ricardo Ramirez is assigned three (3) violation points that will be expunged on January 4, 2023, six (6) months from the date of final adjudication pursuant to Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority Rule #2282 (Riding Crop Violations and Penalties).

KENTUCKY
Track: Churchill Downs
Date: 07/02/2022
Licensee: Chel-c Bailey, jockey
Penalty: $500 fine
Violation: Excessive use of the whip
Explainer: After a hearing before the Board of Stewards, Chel-c Bailey, who rode Pats Property in the seventh race at Churchill Downs on June 30, 2022 was found to have violated the crop regulation. This being her first offense, Ms. Bailey was given the option and chose to pay a fine. Chel-c Bailey is hereby fined $500 for her improper use of the crop by exceeding the allowable use in the overhand manner.

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Independence Day Action Highlighted by Great Lady M

Historically, Independence Day racing had served up a smorgasbord of delectable graded action throughout the U.S. Since the advent of the 'Super Saturday' format instituted in many of the nation's biggest racing jurisdictions in more recent times, however, July 4 racing has felt a little more abstemious than gourmand. Underscoring the point, this year's holiday racing schedule features a single graded stakes race, the GII Great Lady M. at Los Alamitos.

Formerly the Sequoia H., the Great Lady M. was initially contested over seven furlongs at Hollywood Park in 1941, when it was won by movie mogul Louis B. Mayer's Painted Veil. KO'd by World War II the next two years, it returned in 1944 as a race for juvenile fillies at six furlongs. Not held from 1947 through 1958, the race resumed in 1958 once again featuring older horses, and in 1986, it was upgraded to a Grade III before gaining Grade II status in 1990. Renamed the A Gleam H. in 1979, the contest finally garnered the name of the Great Lady M. in 2013, when moving to Los Alamitos following the closure of Hollywood Park. The race's namesake, trained by Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, won the 1980 renewal of the A Gleam, far surpassing her racing accomplishments as a broodmare after foaling 1986 Horse of the Year Lady's Secret (Secretariat).

While last season's 6 1/2-furlong test for filles and mares served as a stage for an embarrassingly easy 10-length romp by the 2020 campion female sprinter Gamine (Into Mischief), the 2022 edition of the race doesn't appear to have a filly of that caliber in its midst, although Nick Alexander's Becca Taylor (Old Topper) has proven dominant on the left coast, having won eight of nine starts, including Santa Anita's GIII Desert Stormer S. June 4. A debut winner at Los Al during her juvenile season, the California-bred has registered wins at four different California tracks, having only tasted defeat once when nosed out for the win while facing statebreds in the grassy Irish O'Brien S. Mar. 19. Also included among graded stakes winners in this year's renewal are Ain't Easy (Into Mischief), last term's GII Chandelier S. scorer, who also finished third in a pair of Grade II races in 2022, and GII Sorrento S. victress Elm Drive (Mohaymen), winner of her sole start in 2022 in the May 8 Angels Flight S. at Santa Anita.

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Alvarado Suspended, Miller Fined by Los Alamitos Stewards

Last month, trainer Peter Miller was fined $10,000 and suspended seven days by the Santa Anita Park stewards for violating the California Horse Racing Board's (CHRB) rules against program training.

The CHRB contended that Miller had remained involved in the daily training of horses after they had been turned over to and listed under the name of his former assistant, Ruben Alvarado.

Alvarado was named in the original complaint, but had avoided any formal sanctions until last Friday, when he was suspended 14 days by the Los Alamitos stewards for violating the CHRB's program training regulations between Dec. 23, 2021, and Mar. 24, 2022, at the San Luis Rey Training Center.

The suspension is pursuant to a stipulated agreement and mutual release with the CHRB and runs from July 1 through July 14 of this year.

“During the term of suspension, all licenses and license privileges of Ruben Alvarado are suspended and pursuant to California Horse Racing board rule #1528 (Jurisdiction of Stewards to Suspend or Fine), Ruben Alvarado is denied access to all premises in this jurisdiction,” the ruling states.

Separately on Friday, the Los Alamitos stewards issued Miller a $5,000 fine as an owner for an incident of “disorderly conduct” occurring on Feb. 14, 2022, at San Luis Rey Training Center.

The original complaint alleges that Miller used the word “fuck” multiple times in the presence of a regulatory veterinarian who had kept a Miller-owned horse on the vet's list after an official workout.

Reached by text Monday, Miller declined to comment.

Last November, Miller announced that he was taking a “temporary hiatus” from training to spend “more time with my family, focus on overall health and wellness, and pursue other interests.”

The announcement triggered speculation that Miller was stepping away due to regulatory scrutiny for having five horses die under his care during 2021 in California, four of them fatal musculoskeletal injuries.

Miller insisted that his decision to step away from the training ranks had nothing to do with any factors other than his feeling that he needed time away from the sport.

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