Delaware Jock Gets 15 Days for ‘Failure to Give Best Effort’

Jockey Raul E. Mena is appealing a 15-day suspension and $1,000 fine imposed by the Delaware Park stewards after a “failure to give best effort” ruling was lodged against him following a last-place finish aboard a 1-for-19 filly who trailed at every call in a $5,000 NW2L claiming sprint June 28.

Sarah Crane, the executive director of the Delaware Thoroughbred Racing Commission (DTRC), confirmed in an email that Mena, 31, has been granted a stay of his penalties until a Sept. 19 hearing.

But Crane declined an opportunity to address questions about to the severity of the stewards' penalties in relation to the recent poor form of the filly Mena rode: In each of her previous three starts, Harper's Do (Straight Talking) had finished next to last at Laurel Park and Charles Town, and had been beaten 63 combined lengths.

In two of those efforts, Harper's Do had earned a Beyer Speed Figure of zero, which matches the figure she earned again on June 28 when she finished seventh, beaten 26 lengths, under Mena.

“Best for me to hold any comments while matter is under appeal,” Crane wrote when TDN queried about any mitigating circumstances.  “I saw no valid reason not to grant a stay of suspension.”

TDN could not immediately reach Mena for comment.

Owned and trained by Mario Serey, Jr., Harper's Do went off at 6-1 odds under Mena, who was riding her for the first time in the eighth and final race of the afternoon at Delaware June 28.

Harper's Do came out of the gate seventh and last, then was guided to the eight path under a light hold. The filly dropped so far back that she was mostly out of the pan shot from the half-mile pole to the wire, with the head-on camera showing her a long way last while traveling five wide around the turn and in the six path through the home straight. The Equibase chart caller's comment stated that Harper's Do “broke slowly, fell far back, raced wide and was not urged.”

The stewards' report for that race listed on the DTRC website noted that Harper's Do was selected for “special” post-race testing. But otherwise, the three stewards-Joelyn Rigione, Robert Colton and William Troilo-described the race as, “Good start for all, no incidents to report.”

The July 4 ruling, however, noted that the stewards had also ordered a “soundness evaluation” and that Harper's Do had “jogged sound after the eighth race on June 28, 2023, per the Test Barn Veterinarian.”

After reviewing the films of the race with Mena on July 1 and “considering his testimony,” the stewards then imposed the “failure to give best effort” penalties. Prior to Mena's appeal, his suspension had been slated to start July 13.

Mena has compiled a 12-for-77 riding record with $259,965 in earnings this year. His season started late, on Apr. 16, because he was recovering from a fractured left femur sustained in a Tampa Bay Downs racing accident on Dec. 7, 2022.

The post Delaware Jock Gets 15 Days for ‘Failure to Give Best Effort’ appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Regulatory Roundup: Jose Delgado, Saffie Joseph Jr., Douglas Nunn, Mario Serey Jr. Sanctioned

Regulators in New Jersey and Maryland have issued a number of rulings in recent months for medication violations involving trainers Jose H. Delgado, Douglas Nunn, Saffie Joseph Jr., and Mario Serey Jr.

Two horses were disqualified from stakes wins for medication violations.

The Critical Way's victory in the June 19 Get Serious Stakes at Monmouth Park was taken away after the 7-year-old gelding tested positive for levamisole. Trainer Jose H. Delgado was given a 15-day suspension from Oct. 11-Oct. 25 and he was fined $500.

The Critical Way, who went on to win two subsequent stakes, including the Grade 3 Parx Dash on Aug. 31, is owned by Randal Gindi's Monster Racing Stables. Gindi in 2017 was fined $5,000 for “conduct detrimental to racing” in connection with a cell phone video in which he Jorge Navarro, his trainer at the time, could be heard joking about giving “juice” to horses and Gindi said he bet on them through a bookmaker Navarro recently pleaded guilty to federal charges of drug adulteration and misbranding.

Delgado was suspended an additional 15 days, from Sept. 26-Oct. 10 and fined $500 for a second incident in New Jersey when Glory Roll tested positive for an overage of phenylbutazone in a post-race sample from a June 13 race in which the mare finished fifth as the 3-2 favorite. Glory Roll is owned by Carole Star Stable.

Trainer Douglas Nunn was suspended 15 days from Oct. 16-30 and fined $500 after Team Effort tested positive for flunixin following a second-place finish in a May 31 Monmouth Park race.Team Effort, owned by Winner Circle Stables LLC, was disqualified from purse money in the race. The horse is entered to race Oct. 15 at Meadowlands with David Nunn as trainer.

Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. was fined $1,000 and the horse Wind of Change was disqualified from his victory at Monmouth Park in the Mr. Prospector Stakes on May 29 after testing positive for aminocaproic acid (better known as Amicar), an adjunct bleeder medication. Wind of Change is owned by Daniel Alonso.

The sanctions against Delgado,  Joseph and Nunn were first reported by Bloodhorse.com.

Earlier this year, trainer Mario Serey Jr. was sanctioned in Maryland for two clenbuterol violations. Amen Corner, second in a May 20 race at Pimlico, was disqualified and placed last after testing positive for the bronchodilator. Family Fortune was disqualified from a May 21 win at Pimlico. Serey owns Amen Corner, while Family Fortune is owned by K12 LLC.

For both violations, Serey was fined $500. He received a 15-day suspension that was stayed, provided he does not pick up another Class 3 violation within a 365-day period. Serey served a 165-day suspension in 2019 after receiving a number of clenbuterol positives in Pennsylvania.

All of the positive tests were reported by Industrial Laboratories of Wheat Ridge, Colo. Industrial replaced Truesdail Laboratories of Irvine, Calif.,  as the official testing lab in a number of states over the past year, including New Jersey and Maryland.

The post Regulatory Roundup: Jose Delgado, Saffie Joseph Jr., Douglas Nunn, Mario Serey Jr. Sanctioned appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights