“He was wrong, but I guess he let his anger get the best of him, and he hit the horse in the face,” O'Brien told TDN.

O'Brien added that he and the other two Mountaineer stewards–Maureen Andrews and Phil Heidenreich–won't be revisiting the penalty, because they believe the punishment fits the violation.

“The horse was acting up after he got off, which is no excuse, but that's what happened,” O'Brien said.

Leon, in a separate interview Sept. 22, denied he hit the horse in the face after dismounting from it. But he did admit that he was “frustrated,” and that he struck the horse “in the mouth” earlier in a workout while still on horseback in an effort to keep it from careening through the outside fence after it bolted.

Specific information about the horse's identity and condition were not available at deadline for this story.

TDN first reported Leon's fine on Sept. 21. At the time of publication, details about the incident were scant. The stewards' ruling, dated Sept. 18, didn't even mention that a whip was involved.

That initial news story caught the attention of TDN readers, and it quickly cycled to the top of the most-read articles list. Within 24 hours of publication, it drew 19 reader comments, which skewed 18-1 against Leon's actions, with a number of the commenters suggesting that the penalty should have been stiffer.

One reader who phoned TDN directly was Justin Jensen, a former jockey who now owns, trains, and exercises horses at Mountaineer. Jensen said he had witnessed Leon's actions, and was one of the witnesses who reported what happened to the Mountaineer stewards.

Jensen said his motivation for wanting his side of the story told was because “A hundred-dollar fine isn't acceptable. The stewards are not doing what they should be doing by throwing the book at him a little bit more.”

Leon, Jensen, and O'Brien essentially told TDN the same version of what occurred during the botched workout. It's what happened after the horse got pulled up that Leon disputed.

“I'm at the three-eighths pole galloping in a set, and Jose Leon worked up the rail, worked past us, and his horse bolted to the outside,” Jensen said. “Now to his credit, he stayed on, and I thought for a second that horse was going through the outside rail. And he corrected the horse by hitting it in the face.”

O'Brien corroborated that explanation: “Other witnesses said they don't even know how he stayed on the horse, and the horse was acting up bad,” the steward said.

“I showed him the whip,” said Leon, who has been a licensed jockey for five years. “I did hit him on the bit; just tried to correct him. The stewards told me that was okay, because they know if I'm in a dangerous [situation], I really have to do something to correct the horse. I hit the horse on the mouth. It wasn't on the face.”

Jensen said that at that point, he couldn't really blame Leon for his actions.

“You're in a dangerous spot. He reached out and smacked the horse in the face. Not the end of the world, okay?” Jensen said.

But what happened afterward troubled Jensen.

“So now he gets the horse back down on the rail,” Jensen continued. “They finish the workout, and I'm galloping right behind him. We pull up. I'm maybe 30, 40 yards away from him. Now the problem is done. All he had to do was turn that horse around and jog it home. And because he's got a bad attitude, and he always has a temper, he jumped off that horse, and as he jumped off that horse, he grabbed the right rein with his left hand, and he reached back with his right hand, and he whipped that horse in the face. I don't know if he hit him in the eye, but he whipped him hard across the face.”

Jensen continued: “Now I yelled at him, and I said, 'Jose, that's enough.' I said, 'Calm down, get that horse back to the barn safely, and just take a breath.' We rode away from him. He continued to get a little bit more mad at the horse, but he did not whip him in the face again. But he did whip him in the face the first time, 100 percent.”

Jensen said by that time, outrider Theresa Akers had come over to assist. She would also testify at Leon's hearing.

“If we had some patrons from the casino standing up on the turn, watching horses train in the morning, which they do quite often, and they witness a jockey whip a horse in the face like that, that makes our business look worse,” Jensen said. “And right now, horse racing is under the microscope.”

Asked directly by TDN if he dismounted from the horse and struck him, Leon said no.

“I came up to the seven-eighths pole [and] just put my stick up, and I started, like, holding the bridle, working with him,” Leon said. “The outrider, she was saying I hit the horse in the face, that the horse had an [injured] eye, and I explained to the stewards the horse did not have any damage, that the horse was fine, and everything was okay. The horse is the type of horse that is a crazy horse. He's super hyper.”

“I was frustrated, but I did not do things on purpose,” Leon said. “I know it's something serious. I will pay the fine, because I know if I lose [an appeal], I don't want to get in trouble for something that I know that I did, but it wasn't on purpose to hurt the horse. I did it to take care of myself. I know with all the [new] rules that are going on, [an incident like this] can affect my career.”

Jensen, in telling his version of events, also referenced the slew of new national anti-whip rules that are in effect. He said he can't square Leon getting fined only $100 for what happened when other jockeys who violate crop rules for being a few strikes over the in-race limit get hit with multi-day suspensions or fines that are much higher than that.

Jensen also gave an example of something that happened to him last year at Mountaineer: He got into a disagreement with the track superintendent and swore at him. He said he was asked to explain his actions before the same board of stewards and admitted that what he said was not appropriate.

“Now those were words,” Jensen said. “How did I get a $400 fine for saying [expletive], but this guy gets a $100 fine for whipping a horse in the face?”

Jensen said he is well aware that speaking out against alleged horse abuse can have repercussions for those within the industry who choose to report it, especially at a small track like Mountaineer. He said there were others who witnessed Leon's actions on that morning but chose not to come forward, and that he understands their reasons for not doing so.

“But I'm okay with you putting my name on this,” Jensen said. “I'm probably going to be dragged through the mud with the stewards. I foresee them dragging me in and giving me a hard time over this. But you know what? There's a difference between right and wrong, and I'm trying to stand up for the right right now.”

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According to a Mountaineer stewards' ruling, “Mr. Leon was caught striking a horse across the face on Sunday, Sept. 10, 2023, during morning exercising.”

The ruling didn't specify whether Leon struck the horse with his whip or his hand.

Joe Moore, the executive director of the West Virginia Racing Commission, wrote in an email that he did not have any details about the incident beyond what the Mountaineer stewards stated in the ruling.

Leon, 24, represented himself at a Sept. 18 stewards' hearing, according to the ruling. Moore told TDN Leon has not appealed, but is still within his 20-day window to do so.

Leon, who has been a licensed jockey since 2018, has compiled a 38-for-304 record so far this year, riding in West Virginia, Ohio, Arizona, and in the mid-Atlantic region.

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Outrun early, the homebred was third-last to make the first turn as Iowa Derby first-past-the-post One In Vermillion (Army Mule) and West Coast Cowboy (West Coast)–fifth in Altoona–eyeballed one another through honest splits. Red Route One began to make progress as he weaved his way through at the midway stage and was up into sixth, but still a good 10 lengths off the leaders as they hit the second turn. Going clearly the best of them nearing the stretch, though with several lengths to find, Red Route One was thrown onto his correct lead by Cristian Torres in the vicinity of the eighth pole and inhaled the front-runners shortly thereafter before kicking clear to score by daylight.

Runner-up in the GIII Southwest S. and again in the GII Rebel S., both sloppy-track affairs at his winter base at Oaklawn, Red Route One was left with too much to do in the GI Arkansas Derby and could do no better than a well-beaten sixth to Angel of Empire (Classic Empire). Winner of the Apr. 22 Bath House Row S. after failing to make the cut for the GI Kentucky Derby, Red Route One was a sound fourth to National Treasure (Quality Road) in the GI Preakness S. May 20 and was eased home a distant eighth when last seen in the GI Belmont S. June 10.

Pedigree Notes:

The 13th graded winner for his Three Chimneys-based stallion, Red Route One is out of an unraced daughter of Grade II winner Fun House, the dam of 2014 Eclipse champion 3-year-old filly and five-times Grade I winner Untapable, whose two most recent foals are Gun Runner colts of 2021 and 2023. Fun House also dropped GISW Paddy O'Prado (El Prado {Ire}) and the dam of GSW Majestic Eagle (Medaglia d'Oro). The deeper family includes Winchell standouts Olympio, Call Now and Early Flyer.

It comes as little surprise that the cross of Gun Runner over Tapit has proved fruitful, having accounted for the likes of GISW Society and other graded scorers Wicked Halo and Disarm. Another half-dozen of Gun Runner's black-type winners descend from other A.P. Indy-line sires. Red House sadly passed away at just five years of age in 2020.

Sunday, Mountaineer Casino & Resort
WEST VIRGINIA DERBY-GIII, $500,000, Mountaineer Casino & Resort, 8-6, 3yo, 1 1/8m, 1:49.49, gd.
1–RED ROUTE ONE, 118, c, 3, by Gun Runner
                1st Dam: Red House, by Tapit
                2nd Dam: Fun House, by Prized
                3rd Dam: Bistra, by Classic Go Go
1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. O/B-Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC
(KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen; J-Cristian A. Torres. $297,500.
Lifetime Record: GISP, 12-3-2-1, $1,045,025. *Full to Red Run,
SW & GSP, $385,598. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–West Coast Cowboy, 118, c, 3, West Coast–Coco's Sweetie,
by Tenpins. ($35,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP; $170,000 2yo '22
OBSAPR). O-Gentry Farms (A.P. Gentry); B-Gary & Mary West
Stables Inc. (KY); T-Saffie A. Joseph, Jr. $100,000.
3–One in Vermillion, 118, c, 3, Army Mule–Given Star, by
Any Given Saturday. 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($26,000 Ylg
'21 ARZNOV). O-Jonathan Kalman; B-Richard Barton
Enterprises (CA); T-Esteban Martinez. $50,000.
Margins: 3, HD, 3HF. Odds: 3.90, 7.50, 3.30.
Also Ran: Raise Cain, Groveland, Lord Miles, Timesatappin, Knockout Guy, Looka Looka, Fartlek. Scratched: Dreaming of Kona, My Man Biggie, Russian Hammer, Tapit's Conquest.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. https://www.thoroughbreddailynews.com/race-replays/0/202202261821OPM11/

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According to the June 15 ruling, the stewards “received evidence that Trainer Bryant falsified a workout” for the 4-year-old gelding Dondada (Klimt) on May 10, 2023, at Delaware Park.

Dondada had not started since running second at Delaware on June 30, 2022.

The ruling further stated that, “Bryant did not have Dondada in his charge at the time horse was entered on June 3, 2023,” and that one week later, on June 10, “Bryant provided a false reason to the Stewards for a scratch [for] Dondada.”

A voicemail message left with the Delaware Thoroughbred Racing Commission seeking details about the case and whether Bryant has appealed his penalty did not result in a return call prior to deadline for this story.

Bryant, 35, has trained since 2009 according to Equibase, compiling a 10-for-174 lifetime record. This year his mark is 1-for-14 with three horses who have raced at Parx and Delaware.

Beyond a $100 fine for necessitating a late scratch at Mountaineer Park in 2021, Bryant's rulings record in the database at thoroughbredrulings.com maintained by The Jockey Club shows no other infractions.

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Speaking about the loss of race dates, WVRC executive director Joe Moore said, “I'm told that is as a result of the Horse Racing Integrity Authority (HISA) and Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) assessments recently received by the commission and the racetracks for calendar year 2023.”

Mountaineer executives were offered the opportunity to elaborate on that reasoning and the dates cutback, but chose not to speak during the Nov. 14 meeting.

The HISA and HIWU assessments were separately discussed at length during a different portion of the meeting. TDN covered that topic here.

The awarding of race dates in West Virginia is a somewhat confusing two-step process bound by a state statute that requires Mountaineer to apply for 210 annual dates and Charles Town Races to apply for 220.

But in actuality, those quotas haven't been met “in a number of years” because of the logistical difficulties of filling that many cards, Moore said.

Moore explained that to comply with the law, tracks must first apply for the statutory minimum, then come back to the commission with a reduction request. After a 10-day public commentary period, if each track's horsemen's organization and tellers' union do not object, the WVRC can vote to reduce the dates.

So Mountaineer did both steps at Monday's meeting. Charles Town only applied for the 220 minimum, and will presumably be back before the board at a future meeting to ask for its traditional reduction.

Moore said Charles Town, which races year-round except for a brief break in December and January, had asked for 179 dates in 2022, but will likely end up racing only 175 by year's end because cancellations.

Charles Town executives were also offered an opportunity to outline the track's 2023 dates strategy, but declined to speak.

Chairman Ken Lowe Jr. and commissioner J.B. Akers voted in the affirmative on the two statutory requests and Mountaineer's reduction request. Commissioner Tony Figaretti voted “no” on all three counts.

“I'm not happy with it,” Figaretti said. “We're always deducting days, deducting days. It's too hard for me to accept that.”

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It took some polite but persistent questioning by commissioner J.B. Akers to get an answer to that question. But Alex Waldrop, the recently retired National Thoroughbred Racing Association chief executive who now works as an advisor to HIWU, eventually conceded that “the burden right now is on HIWU.”

Akers had wanted assurance that West Virginia's racing wouldn't be subject to a shutdown if neither the commission nor the tracks could fill the federally required positions related to the coming of HIWU, an overarching national concern that has ramifications beyond just Mountaineer Park and Charles Town Races.

“I have a hard time believing that we're alone on this issue,” Akers said. “If it's only a few jurisdictions that's one thing. But if it's a substantial number of jurisdictions [that can't meet the staffing statute], I think that frames the issue a little differently.”

HIWU is the entity that will operate HISA's anti-doping program. HISA creates the rules HIWU will enforce.

In October, the WVRC, like racing commissions other states, was notified of the details of the combined agreements that HISA and HIWU want racing jurisdictions to either accept or decline prior to the Jan. 1 implementation date. Commissions and/or tracks have already been assessed costs for the 2023 operations of the two programs; if states opt-in to the agreements and pay some of the costs up front, their assessments will be reduced.

Joe Moore, the WVRC's executive director, said his state is already operating under a modified 2022 agreement with HISA on its racetrack safety program. He explained that he would like the proposed combined 2023 HISA and HIWU agreements split into two separate ones because the safety standards are a “much smoother agreement to extend [but] I believe the HIWU agreement is going to be a much heavier lift.”

At a time when the hiring marketplace is fierce nationwide and Mountaineer and Charles Town already find it difficult to obtain veterinary help, Moore stated it would be next to impossible for West Virginia to go out and hire at least 12 new people to work in drug testing oversight, which according to the incoming HIWU rules must consist of at least one veterinarian, a veterinary technician, a test barn supervisor, and five assistants at each track.

“I will tell you that neither of West Virginia's two test barns are anywhere close to this minimum,” Moore said.

“At Charles Town we have a vet supervisor who conducts our blood draw, two full-time assistants for urine collections, and a part-time assistant. Charles Town has one vet that does the pre-race and nightly card at the same time. We do not have a dedicated vet for the test barn, and we do not have a licensed vet tech,” Moore said.

“At Mountaineer Park, you have a licensed vet tech and three [per-diem] vet assistants for urine collection. Mountaineer Park has one vet for pre-race and nightly racing and no vet dedicated to the test barn,” Moore said.

Moore said one idea could be for the WVRC to staff the positions as best as it can, then ask HIWU to “fill in the gaps” while rebating the state for the positions West Virginia pays to cover.

“Or HIWU may take the stance of, 'You don't have enough [staff]. We're going to take over the whole operation,'” Moore postulated.

Another option, Moore said, would be to see if HIWU would be amenable to compromising on some of the required test barn positions by reducing or eliminating them.

Waldrop said that third option isn't likely to happen: “I don't think there is much, if any, leeway in [eliminating] the individual positions that need to be filled on a daily basis at West Virginia racetracks.”

But Waldrop did add that, “I do think that a cooperative effort between West Virginia and HIWU is the best way to go forward here. But I can't deliver that today. I can't promise that will be the case.”

Akers asked Moore if it would even be possible for the WVRC to post the jobs, interview candidates, perform background checks, and hire and train them prior to the Jan. 1, 2023, deadline.

Moore replied, “Commissioner, this couldn't be done by January of 2028. The racing commission does not have the funding to hire 12 additional personnel on a full-time basis.”

Willing and available veterinarians, Moore added, “don't exist out there right now.”

Waldrop explained that HISA and HIWU could assist with hiring by tapping into the resources of Drug Free Sport International, which has been hired to build HISA's independent Anti-Doping and Medication Control enforcement agency.

But while technicians and specimen collectors can be more easily trained to do their jobs, Waldrop admitted that, “The veterinary aspects are the most challenging. And I can tell you that HIWU is well aware of that, and they've been aware of that for some time. That's probably the biggest hurdle that they see in the near term. And they certainly intend to be prepared on Jan. 1.”

Waldrop continued: “Vets are hard to come by anywhere in the country right now, though, so I'm not going to sit here and say West Virginia is entirely unique. Equine vets [who are] familiar with the racetrack, that's a challenge. But it's one that HIWU has accepted, and they are confident that they can meet it.”

Akers then again prompted Waldrop to clarify who'd be held responsible if that didn't happen.

“Is it going to be HIWU's position, if, you know, that the state of West Virginia is out of compliance and it's our fault this didn't happen?” Akers asked. “Or is HIWU going to take responsibility and say that [the WVRC] made reasonable attempts and couldn't find the personnel to hire?  Or is our racing jurisdiction going to be allegedly out of compliance with the statutory scheme, and therefore threatened by you with regard to whether we're even allowed to race or not?”

Waldrop replied that, “At this point in time, 'Who's out of compliance?' is an issue we could debate. But I think from the industry standpoint, it's HIWU's intention to be up and running and prepared to go Jan. 1.”

Waldrop continued: “One of the challenges you have in West Virginia [is] that you don't have the budgetary resources to hire these individuals…and I respect [and] understand that. HIWU doesn't have that challenge. HIWU has the financial resources to hire these people. So it's one of those hurdles that can be overcome because HIWU has that ability…. HIWU is part of Drug Free Sport, which is an international organization which has massive resources, financial as well as personnel, that they can draw upon.”

Akers said that it was his understanding that HIWU, HISA and Drug Free Sport don't currently have any regulatory veterinarians on staff.

“You're correct,” Waldrop answered. “You're focusing on exactly the right point, which is the challenge here is reg vets. The other positions we will provide. The reg vets are the challenge.”

But Akers still hadn't received a direct answer to his compliance question, so he respectfully but emphatically asked a third time if West Virginia was at risk of having its racing shut down over not having the required HIWU hires in place.

“I don't think that last scenario is going to occur, sir,” Waldrop replied. “HIWU will work with HISA, and do their level best to keep racing going in West Virginia without interruption to provide the staff that's necessary…So I would say to you that the burden right now is on HIWU to be prepared on Jan. 1.”

Akers said he appreciated that answer, adding that while he understood that Waldrop isn't a HIWU executive, he did want the minutes of the meeting to reflect that the HIWU advisor had articulated that “the burden should be presently on HIWU to make sure that these requirements are implemented by Jan. 1 to the extent that those are their mandates.”

In light of a long list of questions that Akers said he still had about entering into a voluntary HIWU agreement for 2023, Waldrop offered to set up a conference meeting in about two weeks between HIWU's executive director and general counsel and any interested West Virginia racing stakeholders and commission members.

The commission ended up taking no action on Monday on either opting into or out of the HISA and HIWU agreements for 2023.

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Over the last 40 years, Sipp has faced allegations involving insurance scams and dead horses, animal neglect cases, race-fixing stings and regulatory malfeasance. Not all the accusations against him have stuck.

Since the mid 1990s, Sipp has been barred from applying for a racing license in New Jersey due to swirling suspicions of fraudulent practices. So he moved his tack to more welcoming pastures.

For the past few years, the trainer has been dogged by allegations he's knowingly funneled his horses into the slaughter pipeline. Proving these allegations has been trickier, exposing gaping holes in racing's aftercare safety-net.

“There's nothing wrong with auctions,” Sipp told the TDN, when asked of the risks that kill buyers pose. “I haven't done anything wrong in the eyes of Mountaineer,” he added, highlighting the West Virginian track where he currently races.

As Sipp sees it, he's been martyred at the court of public opinion. “Unfortunately, with the internet, anybody can say anything about anybody,” Sipp said. “Look at the way they bash Donald Trump.”

In the early 1980s, Sipp sent out nearly 300 victories in one year. So far this year, he's had just eight. At 78, Sipp realistically has few remaining years to add to his career haul of 2,891 wins. Then earlier this week, Churchill Downs temporarily barred him from racing and training at Presque Isle and its other tracks. The faucet's getting tighter.

Many wonder why it wasn't completely turned off years ago.

“I didn't throw him under the bus”

As long ago as the early 1980s, the name Sipp was mired in ignominy.

In 1993, Bill Finley reported in the NY Daily News how a National Association of Racing Commissioners report detailed 83 rulings against Sipp over a 12-year period, some for minor infractions, though some major, including a 60-day suspension for a lidocaine positive. The report was published in 1982.

Sipp is believed to have collected more violations than any other trainer in the history of racing up to that point, wrote Finley.

One of the more egregious incidents occurred on August 15, 1980, when Sipp allegedly forged a scratch card on another trainer's horse, forcing that horse to be withdrawn–a possible criminal offense.

According to Finley's reporting, Sipp avoided criminal charges by helping prosecutors in a sting operation called “Operation Glue,” in which Sipp and a cadre of New Jersey State Police officers posing as owners offered jockeys bribes to pull horses in a race.

Four jockeys–journeymen riders struggling to make ends meet–eventually took the bait, but the case fell apart in trial. As Finley reported, the nature of the sting left a nasty after-taste among many in the industry, including one of the jockeys charged, Gilfredo Gonzalez.

“What he has done to people and what he has done to animals…he is a disgrace,” said Gonzalez, at the time, about Sipp. “We are all human beings and deserve a second chance, but he has had more chances than a cat.”

Sipp eventually served a 60-day suspension for the forged scratch. But the trainer's run-ins with the law weren't over.

In 1984 as Christmas loomed large, Sipp was indicted by a grand jury in New Jersey on charges of inflating insurance claims on nine horses who died in his care over a four-year period.

As a Burlington County Prosecutor's Office statement reportedly read at the time, “in each of the nine claims, the horses died within three days to five months of the insurance application.”

Per Finley's reporting, the investigation allegedly exceeded the scope of just nine horses. Finley cites an affidavit written by an attorney on behalf of jockey John D'Agusto, in which it's written:

“The investigation had been initiated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and centered around the allegation that Mr. Sipp had killed 41 horses in an insurance fraud scheme.”

Sipp eventually pled guilty to the lesser charges of witness tampering, and on Aug. 1, 1986, was fined $7,500 and sentenced to five-years probation. Not everyone, it appears, agreed with the final sentencing.

Gregg Shivers, the assistant Burlington County prosecutor at the time, reportedly said that his office could have easily proven the earlier charges, but that the plea bargain was driven in part by the anticipated cost of the trial, expected to be one of the most expensive in Burlington County history.

One constant throughout Sipp's troubles is his insistence on innocence. At the time of his 1986 sentencing for witness tampering he denied wrongdoing, arguing that his guilty plea was a result of entrapment.

“People believe what they've read about me,” he told Finley at the time. “I know within my own conscience that I didn't kill any horses and I'm the only person I have to live with.”

To this day, Sipp insists he has a guilt-free conscience. He told the TDN that his suspension for the forged scratch, for example, was an instance of him falling on his sword to protect another.

“We were playing a joke on a guy, and I took the heat for that,” Sipp told the TDN. “The person that actually was involved in that was one of the racing officials, and I didn't throw him under the bus.”

Over the years, Sipp hasn't faced scrutiny only for his racing infractions. Trouble and suspicion have similarly plagued Animal Kingdom, his former 32-acre zoo and pet store in Burlington, N.J., one that over the years housed tropical birds, tigers, lions, and giraffes.

“Deceptive business practices”

By the time of Finley's 1993 NY Daily News article, tragedy had already struck Animal Kingdom when a drunk was gored to death by one of the zoo's bulls. Sipp reportedly faced no charges for the incident.

A 2005 Boston Globe article, however, details how a Burlington County grand jury indicted Sipp in 1990 on charges of “deceptive business practices and attempted theft by deception.”

According to the Globe, Sipp in 1988 allegedly staged a burglary at his pet store of two exotic breeding birds to collect an insurance pay-out. According to Finley's reporting, the case went to trial and he was found not guilty.

The year 2011 was a terrible one for Sipp both personally and professionally.

In April of 2011, Sipp's wife, 43-year-old Bridget, died in a fire at the zoo, running back into a burning building to save her mother, who had already been pulled free.

In October of that same year, another fire tore through the zoo. According to a subsequent Philadelphia Inquirer article, the blaze killed 24 animals, including a mother and baby giraffe. Both fires were ruled accidents.

The same article, however, reports how by that time–January of 2013–Sipp was under investigation by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for alleged animal welfare violations.

According to the Inquirer, citations stemmed all the way back to 2002, when five emaciated giraffes reportedly died at the zoo.

USDA inspectors, the Inquirer notes, were also looking into other more contemporary neglect allegations, including the euthanasia of both an adult hyena with a foot wound and a giraffe that had survived the 2011 fire, along with an ailing lemur found dead in its cage.

By that time, Sipp had amassed more than 200 violations over 12 years, “many for animal neglect and facility maintenance issues,” the Inquirer reported.

Per a subsequent article in nj.com, Sipp reportedly cancelled his license to exhibit animals in 2014.

The same 2014 nj.com article also notes how the USDA had issued Sipp only two official letters of warning and a $469 fine. These letters were reportedly issued in 1995 and 2011, the latter just days before the second fire.

TDN reached out to the USDA to verify the details in these news articles. “I will say that we usually shelve these documents after three years,” wrote a USDA spokesperson, in an email.

As such, the TDN has filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the USDA for a record of all citations Sipp received for his operations at Animal Kingdom.

Sipp, however, maintains his innocence from all nefarious events at the zoo.

He said he has no recollection of the five emaciated giraffes perishing in 2002, as reported by the Inquirer. “I don't know where you got this information from, but that's not true,” he said.

Sipp also said that from about 1996 onwards, he was busy with his work as a racehorse trainer and wasn't responsible for the day-to-day running of the zoo.

“My wife ran the zoo and she hired a curator and we had staff…that handled everything,” he said. By the time of certain citations that occurred after the second fire, “I didn't own the zoo at the time. I had sold it,” he added.

According to the 2013 Philadelphia Inquirer article, Christopher Basner and his wife, Anne Butler, briefly took over the zoo in October of 2012, but terminated a two-year contract after just three weeks.

According to the Inquirer, the zoo was back in Sipp's charge when one of the giraffes had to be euthanized “after it was found in the barn too weak to stand.” Sipp was reportedly cited for that incident for failing to provide veterinary care.

“A tawdry image of that industry”

By 2009, Sipp, who had long before muscled his way back into the training ranks, was posting decent returns. That year, his horses won 73 races and amassed more than $650,000 in earnings. But his notoriety had hardly waned.

“In the best-case scenario, he tampered with a witness and is not the type of person who should ever be allowed to take part in a sport that involves gambling and where the integrity of the product is tantamount,” wrote Finley, for ESPN, in 2009.

“In the worst-case scenario, he killed horses for personal gain,” Finley added. “No reasonable person could argue that Sipp should ever have been allowed to race again.”

Some authorities evidently agreed with Finley, for Sipp's attempts to get licensed and to race over the years have resembled a game of whack-a-mole. Take the years following 1993, when his probation on charges of witness tampering had ended and he sought a return to the sport.

While the Pennsylvania State Horse Racing Commission initially granted Sipp a license, Philadelphia Park and Penn National were less welcoming, the latter track steadfast in refusing Sipp access to the facility.

The matter went to court in 1994, when a Commonwealth Court judge upheld the tracks' bans which were based, the Globe reported, on the trainer's history of violations.

As per the Globe, “Judge James Gardner Colins wrote in his 15-page decision, 'a reasonable mind could readily conclude that Sipp's association with horse racing not only taints the image of that industry but also fosters a tawdry image of that industry.'”

Early in 2013, when Sipp attempted to once again enter horses at both Penn National and Parx Racing, both facilities reportedly refused his entries. The trainer subsequently appealed, but the Pennsylvania racing commission upheld the bans.

Whereas in Pennsylvania Sipp's excommunication hasn't been an absolute, that's not the case in New Jersey.

In 1995, the New Jersey Racing Commission (NJRC) asked the state Office of Administrative Law to conduct a hearing into allegations of Sipp's fraudulent racing practices.

In a disposition with the NJRC, Sipp agreed that he “will never apply for any form of racing license in New Jersey, or engage in any activities requiring licensure by the New Jersey Racing Commission,” wrote Leland Moore, a spokesperson for the N.J. attorney general's office, in an email to TDN.

According to Moore, the NJRC has not issued a license to Sipp since. But not all the sport's higher-ups have maintained such a hard-line stance against the trainer.

“There's nothing in the rule book that keeps him from getting a license because he has a past,” Suffolk Downs chief of stewards Bill Keene, told the Boston Globe, back in 2005.

Over the past few years, other racing commissions and racetracks have also routinely welcomed the trainer, despite Sipp's checkered regulatory history continuing to grow.

According to the Thoroughbredrulings website, Sipp has been issued 47 citations since the start of 2005, the vast majority for relatively minor infractions.

Sipp has been found guilty of several medication violations during that time, including for a pre-race TCO2 test at Beulah Park in December of 2008, a Flunixin positive at Presque Isle in June of 2013, a Dexamethasone positive at Mountaineer in August of 2017, and a Phenylbutazone positive at Presque Isle in September of 2020.

The most egregious violation concerned an Ohio State Racing Commission (OSRC) search of Sipp's barn at Thistledown on Aug. 30, 2013.

According to Thoroughbredrulings, the search revealed the following: One apparently used syringe with the needle attached, four unused needles in their packaging, two needles that appeared to have already been used, one opened bottle of Iron Hydrogenated Dextran Injection (Hematinic), one unopened bottle of Iron Hydrogenated Dextran Injection (Hematinic), one opened bottle of Super B Complex Injection (Vedco), and one unopened bottle of Super B Complex Injection (Vedco).

In a ruling dated Aug. 31, 2013, Sipp reached an agreement with the commission. He was suspended five months and fined $500.

The TDN contacted current OSRC executive director, Chris Dragone, to confirm the details. Dragone said that Sipp's file contained information confirming the suspension and fine, but little else about that particular incident.

Once again, Sipp considers himself blameless. Sipp's assistant, he said, had purchased the vitamins from an on-track veterinarian to be used on his own horse, but had mistakenly stored the materials in Sipp's truck, the focus of the search.

“It was my truck he was using, and I knew nothing about him buying vitamins for the horse,” said Sipp. When asked about the iron supplement and syringes, “That was his, not mine,” Sipp replied.

“There's the person you ought to be going after”

Which leads to the past few weeks, and a flurry of activity on social media raising serious ethical questions of Sipp's treatment of three of his trainees who all raced within just four days of each other in late July at Mountaineer Park and Presque Isle.

On July 24, the 7-year-old mare, Come on City (Wiener Walzer) finished down the field in a $4,000 claimer at Mountaineer Park.

Back in 2020, Come on City was sold to Sipp at the Keeneland January sale for $1,500. According to Sue Kenny, former racing secretary for trainer Graham Motion, she had subsequently followed the mare's career due to welfare concerns under Sipp's charge.

According to Kenny, she had asked a Mountaineer trainer to place a claim for Come on City on July 24 on behalf of an elderly couple who wished to retire the mare. The state vet subsequently voided the claim, and so the trainer purchased the mare privately from Sipp for the same price as the claiming tag, said Kenny.

By the time Come on City arrived on Aug. 3 at The Winter Farm in Summerfield, North Carolina, however, the mare was suffering a severe hock infection stemming from multiple open wounds, said the farm's executive director, Holly Carter.

Sipp told TDN that the horse had also been shipped to Presque Isle and another facility beefore Winter Farm, suggesting that the injuries occurred during that period.

According to Carter, the veterinarians who looked at the mare on Aug. 3, “felt like the infection had been there for about two weeks, just by the heat of the swelling and the gunk. It wasn't a fresh wound. That's why we think she raced on it.”

Between the severe hock infection and osselets–chronic degeneration of the fetlock–in the horse's left front ankle, Come on City will likely never be rehomed as a sport horse, said Carter.

Three days after Come on City ran, the 6-year-old mare, Tailadios (Adios Charlie) failed to finish a $6,250 claimer at Presque Isle.

Tailadios' breeder, Jean White, a Florida-based veterinarian, said she was alerted on Aug. 11 via Facebook how Tailadois was in a facility in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, that markets itself as “finding the slaughter bound horses” in order to secure them “alternative homes.” White subsequently purchased Tailadios from the facility, she said.

Sipp said he sold the horse at a public auction in Ohio called “Smokey Lane” for $950. The person who purchased Tailadios, Sipp added, “is an unscrupulous person” who needs investigating.

“The guy that put her up for ransom, why didn't Churchill Downs contact him? There's the person you ought to be going after,” Sipp said.

“She's thin–not life-threateningly so–but she's got horrible looking ankles,” White said, of Tailadios' condition, adding that the mare is currently undergoing a full veterinary examination while in quarantine.

The same day Tailadios failed to make it past the finish line at Presque Isle, the 8-year-old mare Little Christy (Silent Name) suffered an even worse indignity at Mountaineer Park.

According to Equibase, Little Christy–who cost Sipp $3,500 at the Keeneland January Sale of 2020–was having her third start in three weeks.

In her very final race, Equibase writes, Little Christy “took a bad step and fell in mid stretch being euthanised on the track.”

“I cannot comment on consideration of future permit applications”

On Tuesday, Churchill Downs Incorporated (CDI), which owns Presque Isle, announced that it had temporarily suspended Sipp, along with “any trainer either directly or indirectly employed by him,” from racing and stabling at all CDI-owned racetracks until further notice.

“The suspension is a result of concerns over the care and treatment of horses in the best interest of racing to protect the safety and integrity of the sport and its participants,” the statement read.

TDN reached out to James Colvin, the director of racing at Mountaineer, about the recent scrutiny on Sipp.

“I have no information for you to discuss on Burton Sipp, the WV Racing Commission has licensed Mr. Sipp and has also investigated him and to my knowledge have found no wrongdoing as to date,” Colvin wrote.

In 2010, the track instituted a policy barring trainers who sold horses at an Ohio sale frequented by known kill buyers. Colvin failed to respond to follow-up questions, including about the track's current policy on horses sold to slaughter.

In answer to a series of email questions, West Virginia Racing Commission executive director, Joe Moore, wrote that the commission's investigations into Sipp have led to “no actionable violations.”

According to Moore, the commission considers “rule violations in all racing jurisdictions as reported in the ARCI database, as well as criminal convictions,” when determining permit application approval, but that no rulings reported to ARCI have prohibited Sipp's licensure in West Virginia.

“Mr. Sipp is currently licensed by the West Virginia Racing Commission,” Moore wrote. “I cannot comment on consideration of future permit applications,” he added.

And where does the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) fit into the equation?

Lisa Lazarus, CEO of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, said that currently, the law as written does not give the HISA Authority an “obvious way” to hold responsible parties accountable for horses that end up in the slaughter pipeline.

However, “we started looking more deeply into how we can actually address this,” Lazarus said.

At the same time, said Lazarus, the law “does give us broad authority over equine welfare, and over making sure that horses are protected,” she said, adding that HISA is able to take measures against “actions and conduct that interfere with horse welfare.”

The post The “Tawdry” Tale of Burton Sipp appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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States are facing a May 1 deadline to declare “in or out” middleman status pertaining to the safety portion of the HISA program that will go into effect July 1. This first phase-in of oversight does not include HISA's drug testing and medication control programs, which aren't expected to be up and running until 2023.

“I'm not going to make a decision to say yes to that today,” said WVRC chairman Ken Lowe Jr., adding that he wants feedback from the state attorney general and/or the governor's office on how to proceed on the matter.

Over the course of the past year, Lowe has repeatedly spoken out against HISA, portraying it as a federal statute crafted by elitists within the racing industry whose interests aren't aligned with the realities of small-circuit racing in West Virginia.

But since the input that Lowe wants from West Virginia's state officials is unlikely to materialize in the next four days, the HISA Authority will likely treat the WVRC's in-limbo response to the May 1 opt-in deadline as a “no.”

According to WVRC executive director Joe Moore, “The one real issue here by not agreeing to it, what [the HISA Authority] will do is now pass [responsibility and costs] to each of our tracks, Charles Town and Mountaineer.”

Last week California and Minnesota became the first two state racing commissions to agree to work with HISA by paying their pro-rated portions of costs. They also have to figure out how to use state employees (like stewards) to enforce federal-level safety rules (like whip-use guidelines).

Racing commissions in New Jersey, Maryland and Texas have already said no to HISA, with several citing as a reason that they don't have the statutory ability to make budgetary and spending changes that involve federal or private entities.

West Virginia is also a plaintiff in an active federal lawsuit joined by several other states aiming to get HISA voided for alleged constitutional violations before the Authority even goes into effect.

That case is currently facing a motion to dismiss; it is separate from the federal lawsuit spearheaded by the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA) that got thrown out of court several weeks ago.

Charles Town HBPA president Jim Miller told commissioners that HISA was “a great overreach” that amounted to an “abomination.”

But Miller was also cognizant that by not signing off on acting as an intermediary, the WVRC will be essentially passing on the Authority's costs to the horsemen on a per-start basis.

“If [the commission or the tracks] don't pay HISA, we lose our right through the Interstate Horse Racing Act to simulcast, which, of course, is a big issue for us as well,” Miller said.

“We're looking at what revenues we trade one way to go the other way,” Miller continued. “This will be a big burden for both the tracks and a huge burden on horsemen. We definitely cannot afford it at a time when, hay, oats, feed, veterinary; all those costs have gone up dramatically in the past couple months.”

Moore also articulated a concern that opting into the safety part of the Authority's program would bind the WVRC to also go along with the medication and doping controls, too.

“We can't even tell anyone how much this is going to cost,” commissioner J.B. Akers added, alluding to the drug and medication control assessments that would follow.

Akers also questioned “the so-called equitable nature of this assessment,” which he said seemed to be calculated too high for a relatively small state like West Virginia.

Added Moore: “This is a mess whether you agree to do their work for them [via] this voluntary agreement or not. Because whether or not our stewards are carrying out their functions, if here's a violation under their code, the recourse of appeal is not to our stewards at Charles Town or Mountaineer Park. It automatically goes to a HISA-appointed Authority.”

With regard to the costs borne by the horsemen and the tracks, Moore said there could be a possible state legislative solution in the pipeline, but that it would be at least two years before it could be implemented.

Tracks and horsemen having to pay directly “could be avoided in future years should we all agree on some additional revenue stream to the racing commission passed through legislation,” Moore explained.

“We could work together on figuring out a revenue stream that gave the racing commission an amount of money to absorb that assessment that would then come back from the racetracks and the horsemen [in a way that] wouldn't be as sudden and impactful as maybe just a direct assessment,” Moore said.

The post West Virginia in Limbo Over HISA appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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“We had five cancelled days due to lack of entries. But honestly, we wanted to finish out [with] a full [racing] week,” said Jim Colvin, Mountaineer's manager of racing operations. “So we applied for eight racing days, which would give us a total of 133 for this year instead of 130.”

Approval was granted during Tuesday's monthly West Virginia Racing Commission meeting.

The post Mountaineer Adds Eight Dates in December appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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“The decision by the jockeys at Charles Town to refuse to ride on Saturday, Aug. 14 was made with just cause and only after many discussions with management concerning timely payment for jockey's mounts. Receipt of payment in a timely fashion has been a problem on and off for several years at Charles Town and Saturday was not the first time the jockeys have considered refusing to ride over the issue.

“Representatives of the Jockey's Guild and members of the Charles Town jockey colony have had discussions with management and stewards several times in hopes of getting a permanent resolution. Concerns include, but are not limited to, changes to the day of the week the jockeys may get paid without notifying the jockeys and there have been instances when checks have been issued, jockeys were advised that there are insufficient funds in the account to cover the paychecks.

“Most jockeys live paycheck to paycheck and they felt they had no other recourse but to bring attention again to this on-going situation. The inconsistencies and issues of receiving payments consistently occurs nowhere else in the country, including at Mountaineer racetrack, which is also in West Virginia. Everyone can relate to doing a job and being paid in a timely manner. Jockeys are no exception. The jockeys at Charles Town put themselves in harm's way in each and every race and to not be paid in a timely manner is simply unacceptable.

“This is an issue that the management and stewards at Charles Town need to resolve immediately.”

Charles Town's vice president of racing operations Erich Zimny told the Paulick Report on Saturday that the issues, which resulted in the cancellation of races when jockeys refused to ride, revolved around delayed payments into the jockeys' account.

“We've tried damn hard to make racing, including all of the administrative functions involved, as normal as possible despite the situation we're all still in being far from normal.” Zimny said. “There was a temporary delay in money getting transferred for jockeys' checks into the normal account. The riders were told they could instead cash their checks at the casino cage and there would be no issue. Apparently, the delay was enough to choose not to ride and create a negative impact for everyone.”

The post Charles Town Jockeys Refused To Ride Over Ongoing ‘Inconsistencies And Issues’ With Paychecks appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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