new york state gaming commission | Horse Racing Free Tips

Owner of Remsen Runner-up Protesting Non-DQ of Winner

The owner of the runner-up in last Saturday's GII Remsen S. at Aqueduct has lodged a protest with the New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) over the stewards' non-disqualification of the winner by a nose in that race after both an inquiry and a jockey's foul claim regarding the stretch run.

Dave Grening of Daily Racing Form first reported the news on Thursday. He quoted Jeff Drown, the owner of second-place finisher Zandon (Upstart), who said that the actions of victor Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo) and that colt's jockey, Irad Ortiz Jr., cost him the win.

“Certainly, the outcome was affected by how the race was ridden,” Drown told DRF.

Mo Donegal skimmed across the heels of the four frontrunners to escape traffic at the top of the lane and was poised to pounce in upper stretch with a bid to the outside of Zandon and jockey John Velazquez.

The two colts crested the eighth pole in lockstep, then Mo Donegal tightened the lateral gap between them under right-handed stick work from Ortiz. But being put into tighter quarters seemed to embolden Zandon, who fought back gamely as the two bumped and brushed approaching the wire.

The Equibase chart caller described how Irad Ortiz Jr. threw “repeated exaggerated crosses with the left-hand rein near the face of the runner-up” in an “attempt to intimidate” Zandon.

“We were down the lane fighting in a big race,” Ortiz said right after that Dec. 4 win. “[Velazquez] was riding his horse and I was riding mine. It was a good race and we got together a little before the wire, but it was a beautiful race.”

Velazquez said Mo Donegal “got on top of me and I just missed. He laid on top of me right before the wire and just beat me by very little.”

Drew Mollica, a New York-based attorney who specializes in racing-related cases and is representing Drown, told TDN that the very tight margin of victory is part of what merits a review.

“My client's position is there's no question it was a foul. The facts speak for themselves. If Mo Donegal had won by eight lengths, you could say [the actions of the winner and his jockey] didn't affect the outcome of the race. But Zandon was beaten an inch,” Mollica said.

Two other factors could come into play if the NYSGC opts for a review.

The first is that the day after the Remsen, Ortiz was suspended 30 days by the Aqueduct stewards for careless riding, primarily for his role in unseating another jockey in a Dec. 3 race. But state steward Braulio Baeza Jr. told DRF on Sunday that part of that penalty also had to do with Ortiz's stretch ride in the Remsen, “even though the official ruling of Ortiz's suspension does not reference the Remsen,” Grening wrote.

The second factor has to do with there being two substitute stewards on the job at Aqueduct on the day of the Remsen.

DRF reported that state steward Baeza and Jockey Club steward Jennifer Durenberger were both not officiating the races on Saturday. “Stephen Pagano, a steward at Monmouth Park, filled in for Durenberger. Carmine Donofrio, a longtime commission steward at New York Racing Association tracks who retired nearly eight years ago from that position, filled in for Baeza,” Grening wrote.

When asked if the substitute stewards would factor into his client's planned appeal, Mollica said, “In New York, as you know, the final arbiter of anything is the state steward. But the issue at hand is the horse was beaten an inch.”

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Remsen: Zandon’s Owner Files Protest Over Foul That ‘Cost The Horse An Inch’

The finish of last Saturday's Grade 2 Remsen Stakes at Aqueduct was decided by nose, with Mo Donegal finishing ahead of Zandon.

According to the Equibase chart notes, second-place finisher Zandon “rallied to the lead in upper stretch, lost the advantage to the winner [Mo Donegal] before the eighth pole, dug in gamely on the inside in the final furlong, had the winner's rider [Irad Ortiz, Jr.] attempt to intimidate him late then bumped approaching the wire and just missed in a determined effort.”

Jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. was subsequently suspended 30 days for an incident that occurred on Friday at Aqueduct.

After a stewards' inquiry into the finish, the order of finish was confirmed. However, the Daily Racing Form now reports that Zandon's owner Jeff Drown has filed an appeal with the New York State Gaming Commission.

“We're hopeful the Gaming Commission will see there was a rules violation and there should be a review,” Drown's attorney Drew Mollica told DRF. “[Zandon] was beaten an inch. No way in the world the foul that occurred didn't cost the horse an inch.”

According to DRF, two of NYRA's three regular stewards were out of the stand on Saturday. Monmouth steward Stephen Pagano filled in for Commission steward Braulio Baeza, Jr., and retired Commission steward Carmine Donofrio filled in for Jockey Club steward Jen Durenberger.

New York State Gaming Commission: Paulick Commentary On Lack Of Medication Positives At NYRA Tracks Purposefully Misleading

The following letter was submitted by Robert Williams, executive director of the New York State Gaming Commission.

I am writing in response to your October 18, 2021 column “View from The Eighth Pole: Of Rulings and Squeaky Clean Racing.” I feel the obligation to object to your sarcastic characterization, which creates a purposefully inaccurate picture of the efficacy of drug testing in New York.

You wrote that you could “only find one ruling for a medication violation in all of 2021 at New York Racing Association tracks … [and] zero positive tests in the New York State Gaming Commission rulings database in 2020 and zero positives in 2019 for NYRA tracks.” See https://www.paulickreport.com/news/ray-s-paddock/view-from-the-eighth- pole-of-rulings-and-squeaky-clean-racing/.

Limiting your data examination to such a narrow band suggests an intention to cast aspersions on the efficacy of the New York drug testing.

First, your analysis suggests New York does not have race day drug positives. If you banded your data over a more useful period – 10 years – you would have found 541 race day positives at all New York tracks. Second, examining only race day positives at New York Racing Association (NYRA) tracks (Aqueduct Racetrack, Belmont Park and Saratoga Race Course) during such 10-year look-back, you would have identified over 100 drug positives. Third, intentionally limiting your data set to NYRA racetracks enables you to purposefully ignore the seven Standardbred and other Thoroughbred racetracks in operation. The arithmetic illustrates over the last 10 years there have been over 160 race day positives at New York Thoroughbred tracks and over 370 race day positives at New York Standardbred tracks.

It is obvious to the most casual reader your intention was to mislead people in believing there has been one race day drug positive in two years. Your narrative disregards readily available data, misleading readers into believing that the New York Equine Drug Testing and Research Program (Laboratory) is either inept or negligent in its responsibilities.

I take great offense at your gratuitous shot at Laboratory director George Maylin, DVM, PhD. Even the most casual follower of equine drug testing is aware that Dr. Maylin developed many of the forensic equine drug testing techniques used worldwide. He has performed groundbreaking work in determining the presence of drugs that may affect the performance of equine athletes, including recently developing screening tests for:

• IOX-2, a new class of drugs that increases the body's own erythropoietin gene to produce more red blood cells. It accomplishes the same response as the administration of erythropoietin, or EPO. It is a performance enhancing drug and a gene doper.
• Clenpenterol, a beta-2 agonist with pharmacologic properties like clenbuterol which is not approved for use in horses.
• AH 7921, an experimental synthetic opioid with pharmacologic properties similar to morphine-like drugs, which is not approved in the United States for use in horses or humans.
• Kratom (mitragyna speciosa), a natural plant that contains the psychoactive alkaloid mitragynine that has opium-like analgesic effects and coca-like stimulant effects.
• Yellow Rocket (barbarea vulgaris), a plant that contains the alkaloid barbarin, which is used to metabolize bararin to aminorex, a central nervous system stimulant.
• Glaucine, an alkaloid with anti-inflammatory, antitussive, bronchodilator and central nervous system effects.

All of these research discoveries have been shared with other drug testing laboratories around the world and have been widely reported by the racing press.

While I am certain you are aware the Laboratory is one of only nine in the United States that have been fully-accredited by the Racing Medication & Testing Consortium (RMTC), you may not be aware what is necessary to obtain and maintain certification. The accreditation process begins with a document review of the laboratory's processes by an independent auditor with specific experience in horse racing laboratory operations. Once the documentation is reviewed, the laboratory must also submit to a multi-day site inspection by another independent assessor. As part of the accreditation requirements, laboratories are required to participate in an external quality assurance program that determines if laboratories have the capabilities required to detect substances of concern at the concentrations that are mandated by the RMTC model rule recommendations. All participating laboratories must also be ISO 17025-accredited to even apply.

To maintain RMTC accreditation, a laboratory must maintain its ISO 17025-accreditation and annually pass RMTC proficiency sample testing. Additionally, the Horseracing Testing Laboratory Committee of the RMTC also conducts a review of the Laboratory's funded research and internal laboratory development. This calendar year the HTLC found the Laboratory in good standing. In fact, since granting the New York Drug Testing and Research Program has remained in good standing for all its accreditations.

Your column also casts aspersions on Dr. Maylin's credibility, positing that the lack of recent positives at NYRA racetracks might be due to his using different criteria than laboratories in other racing states. You further state that “Maybe the [New York Laboratory] isn't very good.”

A quick look at the annual numbers finds race day positives in 2020 – a VERY anomalous year given the 40 percent reduction in racing dates conducted – for clenbuterol, flunixin, guaifenesin, methocarbamol, methylprednisolone, and phenylbutazone. In 2019 there were positives for adrenochrome monosemicarbazone, clenbuterol, clenpenterol, dexamethasone, flumethasone, flunixin, furosemide, guaifenesin, IOX-2, isoflupredone, methocarbamol, methylprednisolone, phenylbutazone, phenytoin, and propantheline.

Your commentary failed to note any of the above, I guess because it didn't fit your narrative about the lack of medication violations.

New York has been successful in identifying and punishing those who seek to cheat, but we understand that those with the propensity to use unlawful or illegal drugs persist. We appreciate the dedication and diligence of Dr. Maylin and the dozens of employees of the New York Equine Drug Testing and Research Program who are committed to ensuring the integrity of horse racing and protecting equine athletes participating in the sport.

Unfortunately, the Paulick Report prevents reader comments which limits our ability to directly shed light on your misstatements. I am hopeful, however, that this letter gets widespread attention so people can better understand your bias.

(Response from Ray Paulick: The Oct. 19 commentary accurately stated that only one drug positive has been prosecuted at New York Racing Association tracks in 2019, 2020 and 2021. I stand by the article as written.)

The post New York State Gaming Commission: Paulick Commentary On Lack Of Medication Positives At NYRA Tracks Purposefully Misleading appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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New York Governor Vetoes Measure To End Married Jockey Coupling Rule

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has vetoed a rule change to end the wagering coupling of entries ridden by married jockeys, reports bloodhorse.com.

“The rule applies neutrally to all jockeys, without regard to gender, and is intended to enhance the wagering public's confidence in the integrity of a race,” Hochul said in a veto message Monday night. “Coupling of entries does not prevent related parties from participating in a race; rather, coupling of entries merely aggregates those related parties into a single betting interest in the race.”

The coupling rule was highlighted earlier this year when jockeys Trevor McCarthy and Katie Davis told the Paulick Report that the outdated regulation was negatively affecting their careers in the state of New York. McCarthy has since moved his tack to Southern California, and Davis hasn't ridden since May at Pimlico.

Gov. Hochul did add that she will direct the state gaming commission to review the “continued need for mandatory coupling and the circumstances under which such a requirement might be relaxed.”