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Weekly Stewards And Commissions Rulings, June 27-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.

The TDN will also post a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from the same week. These will include decisions from around the country.

New York
Track: Belmont Park
Date: 06/27/2023
Licensee: Manuel Franco, jockey
Penalty: Three-day suspension
Violation: Careless riding
Explainer: For having waived his right to an appeal Jockey Mr. Manuel Franco is hereby suspended (3) NYRA racing days July 7th 2023, July 8th 2023, July 9th 2023 inclusive. This for careless riding during the running of the second race at Belmont Park on June 22nd 2023.

NEW HISA/HIWU STEWARDS RULINGS
The following rulings were reported on HISA's “rulings” portal and through the Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit's “pending” and “resolved” cases portals.
This does not include the voided claim rulings which were sent to the TDN directly. Some of these rulings are from prior weeks as they were not reported contemporaneously.
One important note: HISA's whip use limit is restricted to six strikes during a race.

Violations of Crop Rule
Belterra Park
William Vernon Bush – violation date June 29; $500 fine and one-day suspension, 13 strikes

Los Alamitos
Tiago Pereira – violation date June 25; $250 fine and one-day suspension, 7 strikes
Abel Cedillo – violation date July 1; $250 fine and one-day suspension, 7 strikes
Erick Garcia – violation date July 1; $250 fine and one-day suspension, 7 strikes
Cesar Ortega – violation date July 2; $250 fine and one-day suspension, 7 strikes
Edgar Payeras – violation date July 2; $250 fine and one-day suspension, 7 strikes

Pending ADMC Violations
Date: 06/09/2023
Licensee: Douglas Nunn, trainer
Penalty: Pending
Alleged violation: Intra-articular Injection violation
Explainer: For the use of an intra-articular injection on Smithwick's Spice, who won at Delaware Park on 6/9/23, within 14 days prior to Post-Time. This is a possible violation of Rule 3313—Use of a Controlled Medication Method in relation to a Covered Horse during the Race Period. This is also a possible violation of Rule 4222—Intra-articular Injection within 14 days prior to Post-Time.

Date: 06/04/2023
Licensee: McLean Robertson, trainer
Penalty: Provisional suspension
Alleged violation: Medication violation
Explainer: For the presence of Altrenogest—a banned substance—in a sample taken from Johnny Up, who won at Canterbury Park on 6/4/23. This is a possible violation of Rule 3212—Presence of a Banned Substance and/or its Metabolites or Markers.
Read more on the story here.

Date: 06/01/2023
Licensee: Jonathon Wong, trainer
Penalty: Provisional suspension
Alleged violation: Medication violation
Explainer: For the presence of Metformin—a banned substance—in a sample taken from Heaven and Earth, who won at Horseshoe Indianapolis on 6/1/23. This is a possible violation of Rule 3212—Presence of a Banned Substance and/or its Metabolites or Markers.
Read more on the story here.

Date: 05/28/2023
Licensee: Ricardo Legall, trainer
Penalty: Pending
Alleged violation: Medication violations
Explainer: For the presence of Levamisole—Controlled Medication (Class B)—in a sample taken from Merchants of Cool, who finished fifth at Belmont Park on 5/28/23. This is a possible violation of Rule 3312—Presence of Controlled Medication Substance and/or its Metabolites or Markers.
For the presence of Dimethylsulfoxide—Controlled Medication (Class C)—in a sample taken from Merchants of Cool, who finished fifth at Belmont Park on 5/28/23. This is a possible violation of Rule 3312—Presence of Controlled Medication Substance and/or its Metabolites or Markers.

Date: 05/28/2023
Licensee: Ray Handal, trainer
Penalty: Pending
Alleged violation: Medication violation
Explainer: For the presence of Zeranol—a banned substance—in a sample taken from Barrage, who finished second at Belmont Park on 5/28/23. This is a possible violation of Rule 3212—Presence of a Banned Substance and/or its Metabolites or Markers. Pursuant to ADMC Program Rule 3247(e), HIWU has lifted the Provisional Suspension based upon information submitted by the Covered Person and the review of relevant scientific information. The Equine Anti-Doping Notice has not been withdrawn.
Read more on the story here.

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What’s In A Name? Rose Maddox Seeks Graded Stakes Win For Nick Alexander

You may know Rose Maddox (Grazen) the horse. A 4-year-old California-bred filly, she's won five races, including the Golden Poppy S. and the Moscow Burning S., and is 6-1 in the morning line for Tuesday's GII Great Lady M. S. at Los Alamitos. But you may not know of Rose Maddox the person.

She was an American country singer-songwriter and fiddle player who passed away in 1998. Born in Boaz, Alabama and the daughter of sharecroppers, her family sold all their possessions for $35 when she was seven and left for California to find a better life. They began their journey on foot before hopping a freight train to complete the journey. She'd go on to have 14 hits on the Billboard country singles chart between 1959 and 1964, including several duets with Buck Owens.

She's exactly the type of person owner-breeder Nick Alexander looks to honor when he names his horses.

“I always try to find people who have succeed against long odds or persevered and she fit the bill,” Alexander said.

When it comes to naming horses, no one is more clever than Alexander. Now 80, Alexander has been a fixture at the California tracks since the late seventies. He races exclusively California-breds and many are named after people who are, to Alexander, real-life heroes who haven't gotten the recognition they deserve.

“What I do, it's an opportunity to put something out there that just isn't a combination of the dam and sire's name,” he said. “I've always thought that was kind of a dumb idea. I'm trying to give some notoriety to people who had either been forgotten or were never very well known.”

The list is a long one.

Desmond Doss (Grazen) is among Alexander's better horses. He's a three-time stakes winner who has earned $456,911 and is named after the only conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honor. Doss is best known for distinguishing himself during the Battle of Okinawa by saving an estimated 75 men. Doss refused to carry a weapon into combat because of his personal beliefs as a Seventh-day Adventist against killing, the reason why he became a combat medic. His story was the subject of the 2016 Oscar-winning film Hacksaw Ridge.

“Desmond Doss had very strong convictions about his religion,” Alexander said. “He was determined to save lives rather than take lives. I can't imagine how in the Battle of Hacksaw Ridge he did what he did in those conditions. He singlehandedly saved 75, 80 wounded marines through the night of a miserable battle against the Japanese. He survived, came home and married his high school sweetheart. You have to admire someone like that.”

Alexander's father served in the Navy during World War II, a reason why he likes to name horses after people who served with honor during the war. Alexander owns an unraced 2-year-old colt named Butch O'Hare (Grazen), who is named after another World War II hero. O'Hare Airport in Chicago is named after the Navy fighter pilot.

“He was a very atypical World War II navy fighter pilot,” Alexander said. “Most of them were tall, dark and handsome and looked like movie stars. He was short, balding and pudgy. He flew into a a squadron of Japanese bombers who were headed toward the Lexington, which at time was our only operational aircraft carrier after Pearl Harbor. He was coming back from a mission where he didn't find anything and he was flying alone. He flew right into the middle of this group and took out five or six of them to the point where they turned around and went back.”

He's also a baseball fan. Growing up in Los Angeles, he has been a Dodger fan going back to their days in Brooklyn. He liked the team because he was a big admirer of Jackie Robinson. He has yet to name a horse after Robinson but does have a Pee Wee Reese (Tribal Rule), whose wins include victories in the GII Eddie D. S. and the GIII American S. and is named after one of Robinson's teammates.

“Pee Wee Reese is one of my best horses ever,” Alexander said. “He was the captain at time Jackie came up. Pee Wee was from the South originally and some of southern players on Dodgers signed a petition saying they didn't want to play with Jackie. Pee Wee was the one that changed minds and made people realize why wouldn't you want someone as good as Jackie Robinson playing for your team, no matter what color he was?”

Sometimes, Alexander will name horses after fictional characters. That list includes Isabel Ludlow (Grazen), who will start in Tuesday's third race at Los Alamitos, a Cal-bred maiden special weight race. Isabel Ludlow is the name of a character in the movie Legends of the Fall. Alexander said it's one of his favorite movies and that he was a fan of the character played by Karina Lombard.

He says he doesn't spend a lot of time researching names or doing anything out of the ordinary.

“I'm 80 years old and I've been around a long time, so I guess I know a few things,” he said. “I'm not a serious scholar, but there are things I'm interested in like World War II.”

Facing open company in a graded stakes race after running second against state-breds in the Fran's Valentine S., Rose Maddox will be in a tough spot in the Great Lady M. Alexander is hoping for the best.

“It would be awesome to win a race like that,” Alexander said. “We've had a couple of Grade II winners from our homebreds, but it's always exciting to see another one come along who has the potential. She started out modestly at Golden Gate but she can do just about anything. She's won short, long, on synthetic, on dirt, on turf. I don't know if she's good enough to run with those horses. We will find out. But she's a wonderful horse to have in the barn.”

And so well-named.

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Eda Returns To Graded-Stakes Action In Great Lady M

Making just her second start in the last 16 months, Bob Baffert's Eda (Munnings) looks to keep her winning streak rolling in Tuesday's GII Great Lady M S. Los Alamitos Race Course plays host to the $550,000 OBS March grad who enters having won her last five straight dating back to Oct. 2021 for owner Baoma Corp. Already a Grade I winner over this track with her victory in 2021's GI Starlet S., Eda went to the sidelines off a gate-to-wire score in the GIII Santa Ysabel in her next start and did not return for 13 months. Again showing her trademark speed, she wired the allowance field at Santa Anita Apr. 28 in her first start off the layoff. Trainer Bob Baffert seeks his fifth Great Lady M win having taken four of the last seven including back-to-back editions with Marley's Freedom (Blame) in 2018 and 2019.

Lined up just to Eda's inside, Elm Drive (Mohaymen) also enters off a win, taking the Mizdirection S. at Santa Anita May 20 in her first attempt on the grass. Last year's third-place finisher in this race, the 4-year-old has her own win streak going and is undefeated since coming back to Phil D'Amato's barn for 2023 with a win in the off-the-turf GIII Monrovia Apr. 8. In her only prior start against Eda, Elm Drive came out the winner, just getting her head in front of her rival in second career start in the 2021 rendition of the GII Sorrento S.

Last year's winning connections of owner Nick Alexander and trainer Steven Miyadi, who took the 2022 Great Lady M with Becca Taylor (Old Topper) bring Rose Maddox (Grazen) to the gate in an attempt to take back-to-back renditions of the Great Lady M. The grey filly makes her graded-stakes debut Tuesday but enters off multiple stakes win in both open and state-bred company.

The only 3-year-olds in the field, Vegas Magic (Good Magic) and Chismosa (Clubhouse Ride) step up to face older rivals for the first time. Vegas Magic came out running with three-straight wins including a in the GII Sorrento S. last Aug. but hasn't been seen since a 10th to 2-year-old filly champion Wonder Wheel (Into Mischief) in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Nov. 4. Chismosa also debuted a winner in her first three and was a narrowly-beaten sixth in the GIII Senorita S. May 6.

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CHRB Reports Safety Measures Continue To Protect Horses

California horse racing again experienced a significant decline in the number of horses that died from injuries suffered during racing and training at the state's facilities during the 2022-23 fiscal year that ended June 30, the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) said in a press release on Saturday.

A total of 26 died last year as a result of musculoskeletal injuries that occurred while racing or training, compared with 39 the previous year. For context, approximately 30,000 race starts and far in excess of 100,000 workouts occur each year from 8,000 to 10,000 horses at CHRB regulated facilities.

“That's still too many fatalities, but it shows that all of the new regulations, policies and procedures that that we've introduced in cooperation with the industry have had a significant effect,” said CHRB Chairman Greg Ferraro. “Our efforts are focused primarily on preventable injuries, and that's what the numbers reflect. I don't know of any racing jurisdiction in the country that even comes close to matching this effort or result.”

In the interest of full transparency, the CHRB also tracks fatalities caused by any non-exercise-related catastrophic injury. The most common cause of death in this other group is gastro-intestinal diseases, such as colic, colitis, and enteritis, followed by respiratory disease. Unfortunately, the number of “other” deaths increased last year, and those 43 deaths, coupled with the 26 due to musculoskeletal injuries, brought the total to 69, or three more than the 66 from the previous year.

“I've considered several times the idea of not counting other deaths, the type that occur among horse populations anywhere in the world, including the popular riding stables and in the wild, but I've always decided that full transparency is the best way to go,” said CHRB Executive Director Scott Chaney.

Those 43 other deaths occurred despite care and treatment by on-site veterinarians and specialized equipment located in stable areas.

“Six of those horses were transported to the veterinary hospital at the University of California, Davis, as well as other local referral hospitals, where experts did their best to save them,” said Dr. Jeff Blea, the CHRB equine medical director. “Illnesses such as severe colic, advanced neurologic cases, and obscure medical conditions, sometimes just are not treatable, as animal and horse owners throughout the world know from personal experience.”

For further context, equine fatalities at CHRB-regulated facilities have declined by 54 percent since 2019, including the “other” category.

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