new york state gaming commission | Horse Racing Free Tips

Barn 15 at Belmont Park Placed Under Quarantine Due to Potential EHV Case

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) and the New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) have placed Barn 15 at Belmont Park under a precautionary quarantine until further notice due to a potential case of Equine Herpesvirus (EHV) in that barn.

Cute Curls (Tapiture), an unraced 3-year-old filly trained by Danny Gargan, exhibited acute neurological symptoms on Saturday and was subsequently euthanized. As of Saturday afternoon, no additional horses in Barn 15 have presented symptoms.

Samples are in-route to Cornell University for analysis with results expected within 48 hours.

Barn 15 was placed under quarantine at 3 p.m. with standard precautions and biosecurity measures now in effect. The quarantine procedures are overseen by Dr. Sarah Hinchliffe, the director of NYRA's veterinary department, in consultation with the NYSGC.

There are 34 horses currently stabled in Barn 15, which is home to stalls for Jim Ryerson, Gustavo Rodriguez and Gargan. All horses in Barn 15 will be closely monitored for fever and other signs of illness.

During the initial quarantine period, horses stabled in Barn 15 will not be permitted to enter races or train among the general horse population. Afebrile/asymptomatic horses stabled in Barn 15 will have isolated training hours at Belmont Park following the closure of training for the general horse population.

Two horses stabled in Barn 15 (Ryan's Cat, Society Man) shipped to Aqueduct for races on Saturday prior to the identification of Cute Curls as a potential EHV case. As such, both horses were permitted to run on Saturday afternoon.

Neither horse has presented symptoms and Society Man will be transported to Belmont Park in isolation. Ryan's Cat was transported to Belmont Park following Race 1 prior to the identification of the potential EHV case.

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New York Gaming Commission Issues Update On Great White Way Stakes DQ, But Only Adds To The Confusion

The New York Gaming Commission issued a statement Friday regarding the controversial disqualification of Brick Ambush (Laoban) in the Dec. 16 Great White Way S. at Aqueduct that was meant to bolster the argument that the stewards made the right call, but it included a photo that could be construed as doing the exact opposite.

The TDN and other news outlets received an email from New York Gaming Commission Director of Communications Brad Maione that included six screen shots from the race taken at the point where there was contact and horses were steadied. One of the shots included arrows pointing to four jockeys, Ruben Silvera, Manny Franco, Junior Alvarado and Jose Lezcano. Alvarado was aboard Brick Ambush, who, though disqualified after crossing the wire second and placed last, appeared to be free of the trouble while racing outside and clear of the horses who were bothered. The arrow pointing to what was supposed to be Alvarado's mount was instead The Big Torpedo (Big Brown), who was ridden by Javier Castellano.

When the TDN notified Maione that there was an error concerning the identification of the horses and their riders, he sent a new version of the original statement that fixed the mistake. However, with Alvarado now properly identified, the pictures offered no evidence that he was at fault.

The second version of the statement included the following explanation: “Please note the first screenshot in the previous version incorrectly identified the riders on specific horses. Please disregard those reference screenshots. Corrected versions are attached and included below. The narrative remains unchanged.”

Misidentified image of the Great White Way S. sent to the media | NYSGC

The disqualification set off a controversy that has yet to die down and the consensus in the sport is that, for whatever reason, the stewards simply DQ'd the wrong horse by mistake. Many believe that the horse that caused the bumping and deserved to come down was actually the race winner, Antonio of Venice (Laoban).

The statement made the case that the stewards carefully reviewed the race after the decision was made to disqualify Brick Ambush and that they stood by their decision. The stewards officiating the race were Braulio Baeza, Jr. (N.Y.S. Gaming Commission), Juan Dominguez (The New York Racing Association, Inc.) and Samantha Randazzo (The Jockey Club).

“The three Stewards' attention was focused on the field as it arrived near the quarter-pole, where several horses converged and were in close contact,” the statement read. “As evident in the below/attached screenshots, horse Brick Ambush (#12), ridden by Junior Alvarado, came up on three horses that were crowded together–Antonio of Venice (#1) ridden by Manuel Franco, The Big Torpedo (#7) ridden by Javier Castellano, and Solo's Fury (#11), ridden by Jose Lezcano–and made disruptive contact. The Stewards were concerned that Castellano's contact with the other horses and their riders could have impacted the results of the race.”

According to the statement, the stewards examined six separate camera views of the area of concern and conducted telephone interviews with Franco, Castellano, Lezcano and Alvarado. Castellano told reporters after the race that he attempted to claim foul, but the stewards have said they were unaware that he wanted to file an objection.

“After review of the footage and interviews with the jockeys, the Stewards unanimously concluded that Alvarado's movement of Brick Ambush to the inside at quarter-pole pole caused a chain reaction that impacted the race. Accordingly, the Stewards disqualified Brick Ambush for interference,” the statement continued.

Alvarado was hit with a three-day suspension for careless riding.

“The following morning, all four jockeys were required to participate in a film review of the race and discussed the event with all three Stewards,” the statement continued. “At the conclusion of the review, State Steward Baeza issued a 3-day careless riding suspension to Mr. Alvarado, to be effective January 1 through January 5, 2024. Mr. Alvarado accepted the penalty and declined to appeal.”

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The Week in Review: Graded Stakes Committee Shows NYRA No Love

The American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association has done it again, announcing Saturday that it has reduced the number of graded stakes races that will be run in the U.S. in 2024, while also downgrading 30 races. To most, this is a welcome development. With the foal crop continually declining, there should be fewer graded stakes races and fewer Grade I's. Many believe that the committee has not gone far enough.

Yet, the announcement, as it always seems to do, did not come without a few head-scratching, controversial decisions, many of them leaving tracks to believe they have been treated unfairly. When the list of graded races for 2024 reached the New York Racing Association's executive offices there probably was a sense that they were being picked on. No tracks took it on the chin quite like the NYRA tracks did.

There will be 429 graded races in 2024, 11 fewer than there were this year. Thirty races were downgraded, and that's where NYRA was hit the hardest. Ten of those 30 races are run at NYRA tracks. They include the Carter H. and the Man o'War S., which were two of five races that were Grade I's that have been downgraded to Grade II's for next year. Ten races were downgraded from II's to III's and five of them are NYRA races. Three more NYRA races were dropped from Grade III's to listed races.

Ten races were upgraded, including three on the NYRA schedule.

It wasn't that long ago that the NYRA stakes schedule was the gold standard for the industry. But in 2024, NYRA will present a stakes schedule that looks nothing like what it offered during its glory days. It's not just the Carter and the Man o'War. The five NYRA stakes that have been dropped from Grade II's to Grade III's are the Forty Niner S., the Hill Prince S., the Vosburgh S., the Sheepshead Bay S. and the Prioress S. The Bay Shore S., the Fall Highweight H. and the Schuylerville S. all went from Grade III's to listed.

In 2022, it was announced that the 2023 runnings of the Cigar Mile S. and the Woodward S. were being dropped to Grade II's. Since 2016, NYRA has lost eight Grade I races. The list also includes the Wood Memorial S., the Flower Bowl S., the Beldame S. and the Vosburgh S. With the downgrading of the Carter for next year, there will no longer be any Grade I races run at what are the traditional Aqueduct meets.

Has the graded stakes committee treated NYRA fairly? Even with all the cuts, the answer, for the most part is yes.

A race like the Carter should have been dropped to a Grade II years ago. A quality horse in Vekoma (Candy Ride {Arg}) won the race in 2020, but recent winners (2021) Mischevious Alex (Into Mischief), (2022) Speakers' Corner (Street Sense) and (2023) Doppelganger (Into Mischief) are not Grade I material.

The Wood Memorial, once a premier prep for the GI Kentucky Derby and a Grade I through the 2016 running, has failed to keep up with the other Derby preps. You have to go all the way back to 2000 to find the last Wood winner to win the Derby, which was Fusaichi Pegasus (Mr. Prospector). Since Funny Cide (Distorted Humor) won the 2003 Derby after finishing second in the Wood, the Wood has produced 41 Derby starters without a top three finish. Tacitus (Tapit) was moved up to third after Maximum Security (New Year's Day) was DQ'd in 2019.

This year's Cigar Mile, won by Hoist The Gold (Mineshaft), was not a Grade I quality race.

The one move by the graded stakes committee that makes no sense is how it has treated the Vosburgh. Named a Grade I in 1991 when it was won by Housebuster (Mt. Livermore), it remained a Grade I until 2019. The 2020 and 2021 runnings were nothing to get excited about, but the 2022 edition was won by Elite Power (Curlin), who would go on to win the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint and be named sprint champion. This year the race was won by Cody's Wish (Curlin), who came back to win the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile and is the favorite to be named 2023 Horse of the Year. How do you take a race won in back-to-back years by Elite Power and Cody's Wish and downgrade it from a Grade II to a Grade III?

NYRA can't afford more of the same in the year's ahead. (How much longer can the historic GI Jockey Club Gold Cup maintain its Grade I status?)The problem with NYRA's stakes program is that it hasn't adapted to the times. There are simply too many stakes races on the schedule. You have a declining foal crop and you have trainers of top horses who are perfectly content to run them four times a year. The inevitable has happened. Field sizes for stakes races keep going down as does the quality, and that's why NYRA keeps getting hit by the graded stakes committee.

It's time for some tough love and to simply eliminate some races. A perfect example is its schedule for older male dirt horses from the late spring to the early fall. You start with the June 10 GI Metropolitan H., followed by the July 8 GII Suburban S., the Aug. 5 GI Whitney, the Sept. 2 GI Jockey Club Gold Cup and the Oct. 1 GII Woodward. That's five races in the same division over less than four months and that doesn't begin to take into account major races for older dirt males run elsewhere. There simply aren't enough quality horses to adequately fill all those races. Yes, the Suburban and the Woodward are historic races, but maybe it is time for them to go. The same goes for a half dozen or so other stakes.

NYRA still has a terrific stakes program, particularly at Saratoga, where the prestige of the races and the purses involved attract the very best horses in the sport. Every Grade I run there is a deserving Grade I. The card offered on the day of the GI Belmont S. is the second best day of racing in the sport, behind only the Breeders' Cup Saturday program. It's just the rest of the year where NYRA needs help.

The Brick Ambush Decision

Put 1,000 racing people in a room and ask them to watch Saturday's running of the Great White Way division of the New York Stallion Series at Aqueduct, and the verdict would be unanimous. All 1,000 would say the stewards got it wrong. In disqualifying Brick Ambush (Laoban) from second, the stewards not only made the wrong call they made a call that defies explanation. Anyone can see that. In no way did this horse bother anyone or have anything to do with the pile-up that resulted near the quarter-pole when three other horses banged into one another.

Yet, the stewards took down Brick Ambush. If you didn't know better, you'd think they didn't even bother to watch the race. It was, simply, a horrendous call, and it cost the horse's owners $100,000.

The stewards are no different than the rest of us. We all make mistakes. But the problem is, who holds them accountable when they do? Who is reviewing them and watching them? Is anyone in a position to fire or demote a steward when it becomes clear they're not up to the job? There doesn't appear to be. Separate from an appeal from owners Dean and Patti Reeves, the New York Gaming Commission needs to conduct a review into this race and any others where the stewards might have made an erroneous decision and decide whether or not the three stewards on duty Saturday need to be sanctioned in some way, even if that means they should be fired.

The disqualification caused a firestorm on X, with the vast majority questioning the stewards call, which seemed so obviously wrong.

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Palmer: ‘PET Scan Not Appropriate As Initial Screening Tool’

New York State Equine Medical Director Dr. Scott Palmer has described Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scan as a “fantastic diagnostic tool” and that “it can play a very important role” in helping to identify and pinpoint subtle musculoskeletal injuries in horses, but that the scan is not the best initial screening tool in singling out horses at risk for catastrophic injuries.

Palmer addressed the issue during an equine health and safety briefing held at Tuesday's meeting of the New York State Gaming Commission and also offered some preliminary findings on the 17 equine fatalities recorded during this summer's Saratoga meeting.

“Identification of horses at risk for catastrophic injury must begin with a screening protocol that can be scalable, practical, affordable, and can be used by every horse while training or racing without regard to any clinical indication of injury,” Palmer said in revised comments issued Wednesday. “Wearable biometric sensors are best suited to accomplish this first level of screening. These sensors detect subtle abnormalities in a horse's gait that are not detectable with the human eye. They serve as a 'check engine' light that alerts us to the possibility that there is something wrong with the horse and that the horse should be examined by a veterinarian.

“The veterinary examination is the second level of screening for an abnormality that might predispose a horse to injury. The goal is to reach a diagnosis of musculoskeletal abnormalities and typically will include use of diagnostic nerve blocks and digital radiography. If lameness is detected in a limb during this examination and digital radiographs are inconclusive, then advanced imaging such as PET can be employed as a final screening step in this process.

“In summary, PET can play a very important role in the diagnosis of subtle musculoskeletal injuries in horses, but it is not useful at the initial screening level,” he concluded.

Palmer added that biometric sensors placed in horses' saddlecloths that can help identify at-risk animals, are “not quite ready for 'prime time' use” at this time.

In referencing the 17 Saratoga fatalities–a number that is approximately 1% of the 2000 horses stabled at the track but three times higher than 2021 and 2022–Palmer noted that the incidents were clustered around Whitney and Travers weekends. He added that fetlock injuries, typically responsible for 48-50% of fatal musculoskeletal injuries in New York and California over the last decade, represented 92% of all the exercise-associated fatal musculoskeletal injuries at Saratoga, a “significant finding” in Palmer's estimation.

Twelve of the 13 exercise-associated injuries occurred either during the final furlongs of the race or during the gallop out, suggesting that fatigue was also a contributing factor.

Palmer explained that the unprecedented 11 inches of rain that fell during the meet–compared to nine inches in 2021 and 8 inches in 2022–had a material impact on the consistency of the racing surfaces. During the meet, there were 65 surface changes (16%) compared to just 17 (4%) in 2022. With those facts in mind, “increased moisture in the Saratoga main dirt track and spatial and temporal variation of the moisture content of the track during the meet were likely contributing factors to the increase in the number of racing fatalities.”

A comprehensive report of the investigation will be made available to the public as soon as the investigation is complete.

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