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NJ Tracks Add Nine Dates for ’22

Thoroughbred racing in New Jersey will get a nine-date boost in 2022.

The New Jersey Racing Commission (NJRC) on Wednesday unanimously approved 60 dates at Monmouth Park (May 7-Sept. 17) and 11 dates of turf-only racing at the Meadowlands (Sept. 23-Oct. 29).

That total of 71 overall dates represents an uptick of seven programs at Monmouth and two at the Meadowlands compared to what had been granted for '21.

The NJRC also unanimously approved carrying over into '22 a $21,457 Jackpot Pick 6 pool that was scheduled to be paid out Oct. 30 but wasn't when this season's final date of the '21 Meadowlands turf meet got cancelled because of a rainstorm.

By NJRC rules, the pool is required to be escrowed in an interest-bearing account until the opening-day program a half-year from now, with that interest to be added into the carryover on opening day of the Monmouth meet next May.

In other NJRC business, the commission voted unanimously to accept a settlement agreement in a 4 1/2-year-old case involving a dextrorphan positive at Monmouth Park.

According to Judith Nason, the NJRC's executive director, Spectacular Me, a mare trained by Steve Klesaris, tested positive for dextrorphan after running second in the eighth race at Monmouth on May 28, 2017. The finding was confirmed by split sample.

Dextrorphan is a metabolite of dextromethorphan, an over-the-counter cough suppressant that is approved for human use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It is sometimes used on horses as a non-FDA-approved method to prevent cribbing.

The parent drug is currently classified as Class 4 and Penalty Category B on the Uniform Classification Guidelines for Foreign Substances list published by the Association of Racing Commissioners International.

On Sept. 10, 2017, the Monmouth stewards held a hearing and imposed a 15-day suspension and a $500 fine while also disqualifying the mare from purse money.

Sixteen days later Klesaris appealed his penalties, and the case was referred to New Jersey's Office of Administrative Law.

Now, after years of negotiations, the two sides reached an agreement that cut the suspension down to just seven days while keeping intact the $500 fine and forfeiture of the purse money.

The post NJ Tracks Add Nine Dates for ’22 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Observations From a Whip-Free Weekend at Monmouth

The Week in Review, by Bill Finley

We will need a bigger sample size before being able to fully evaluate how Monmouth's experiment with whip-free racing has fared. But this much is certain: Three days in and after hysterical fomenting from the pro-whip side of the argument, the whip-less races amounted to a big nothingburger. That is to say there were no incidents, no major form reversals, no mass boycotts from the horseplayers, etc. Perhaps this was just round one in what figures to be a long, drawn-out battle that will eventually extend beyond Monmouth Park, but the anti-whippers have broken sharply from the gate and assumed a clear lead down the backstretch, all under hand urging.

Other thoughts:

(*) Handle-wise, Monmouth did not get off to a good start, but that was to be expected because of the rain, the slop, scratches and the lack of grass racing. On Sunday, the handle was $2,645,700 over 11 races, off considerably from the $3,924,465 they bet on the same day in 2019 when there were 12 races. On Saturday, they bet $2,941,677 over 12 races. On the same day in 2019, the handle was $5,891,308 for 13 races. (There were no races held over the Memorial Day weekend because of the COVID-19 shut down.)

That could mean that some bettors were reluctant to play races where no whipping was allowed, but it's more likely that the horrendous weather cost Monmouth any chance of having a good handle. If the sun shines next weekend, that would provide a clearer pictures vis a vis the handle and the whip ban's impact.

(*) Some had predicted that some owners and trainers would refuse to run at Monmouth because of the whip ban. That simply wasn't the case. You don't attract 107 entries for a 12-race card, like they did Saturday, if people are staying away. When asked if the whipping rules were having any impact on field size, racing secretary John Heims said of the Saturday card: “It's not a factor and it wasn't a factor for Friday's card either.”

(*) If whipping isn't OK in Thoroughbred racing in New Jersey, why is it OK in harness racing? After all, the whip ban was meant to address perceptions that horse racing is cruel to the animal. Harness drivers are very limited so far as what they can do with the whip and can no longer raise their arms above their shoulders and whack the horse. Still, if whips can't be tolerated at Monmouth then they shouldn't be tolerated at the Meadowlands.

(*) There's no doubt that other state racing commissions are watching the Monmouth races intently. If the entire meet goes as well as the first weekend did, expect other states to fall in line with whip bans of their own. Next up will almost certainly be California. In a 2020 interview with the TDN, here's what the California Horse Racing Board Executive Director had to say: “I don't think jockeys should carry crops. It's not necessary. To me, it's not a safety issue. Ten years from now, if jockeys are still carrying riding crops, we've taken a wrong turn somewhere. This is a national issue and I think eventually everybody will be on board.”

(*) Some predicted that the whip ban would favor frontrunners because closers couldn't be urged on by their riders with their whips. That didn't happen. With races being run over a very sloppy surface Sunday, speed horse did seem to have an advantage. But on Friday, when the surface was fast for the first race, the track was kind to off-the-pace horses. The winner of the first race closed from last and the winner of the second race was fifth out of six early. Both were running in the middle of the track in the stretch.

(*) The races were very formful. Over the three days, 15 of the 28 races were won by the favorite, for a strike rate of 53.6%. The entire time, only one horse paid more than $20. While that obviously had something to do with the small fields, it was also pretty strong evidence that a whip ban does not lead to strange results.

(*) Will the whip ban cause a reshuffling of the deck when it comes to the jockeys? Riders who rely more on their finesse and smarts rather than brute strength should do better. It's worth noting that Dylan Davis (3-for-8, 38%) got off to a big start. Riding for many of the top New York outfits, like Chad Brown, Davis could have a huge meet. These were Davis's first mounts since a Mar. 20 spill.

(*) While there were no serious incidents on the racetrack, there was at least one example where the lack of a whip could have caused a difference. In Saturday's sixth race, Charge Account (Take Charge Indy) clearly pulled herself up before the wire. But she was so far in front that it didn't matter. She won by 7 1/4 lengths. But what if she had done the same while battling another to the wire and lost? If he was able to use a whip, could jockey Nik Juarez have gotten the filly to get her mind back on business?

(*) It was interesting to see that so many riders declined to carry the whip, which is still allowed for safety purposes. Those jockeys clearly didn't want to take any chance that they'd revert to old habits and hit the horse, not when doing so would result in a $500 fine and a five-day suspension. It changed over the weekend and by Sunday, the majority of riders were carrying the whip. But, from a perception standpoint, the damage had already been done. If whips are so necessary for safety reasons, how can it be that so many riders chose not to use one when one was available to them?

(*) After all their fussing and saber-rattling, the Monmouth jockeys showed that they're not a unified group. Only two jockeys–Joe Bravo and Antonio Gallardo–declined to ride. It will be interesting to see if either Bravo or Gallardo have a change of heart and return.

(*) Yes, this was a difficult, volatile situation, but Monmouth's threats of suing jockeys and banning anyone who refused to ride, were, to say the least, over the top.

(*) Jockey Christian Navarro won with his first two mounts on Friday. It marked the first time he had ridden since July 26, 2019, when he rode at Camarero in Puerto Rico.

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Battula Banned 2 1/2 Years, Fined $7,500 for Monmouth Drug Confiscation

Aparna Battula, the jockey-turned-trainer who has not started a horse since New Jersey Racing Commission (NJRC) investigators confiscated 83 injectable medication vials and 36 needles from her Monmouth Park tack room July 29, 2019, had her training license suspended 2 1/2 years and was fined $7,500 in a post-appeal commission ruling on those violations during the board's May 19 meeting.

Commissioners voted 4-0 to impose a penalty that was slightly stiffer than the two-year ban and $6,500 fine recommended by a New Jersey administrative law judge (ALJ) after Battula had appealed her original suspension.

But the new penalty pales in comparison to the nine-year suspension and $18,500 fine the Monmouth stewards originally voted to impose in a June 2020 ruling against Battula.

During Wednesday's NJRC meeting, executive director Judith Nason said the commission had withdrawn one charge at the appeal stage “because a confirmatory test for a substance came back negative.” The Asbury Park Press subsequently reported that the purported drug had been initially believed to be erythropoietin (EPO), which carried a five-year suspension and $5,000 fine. Nason also said the ALJ merged several other counts into one for the purposes of determining penalties.

Nason read into the record that testing confirmed the other confiscated vials contained flunixin, dexamethasone and methocarbamol. Nason said that Battula had admitted in interviews with investigators that the illicit pharmaceuticals were hers, and Nason said the trainer had admitted to injecting one horse, Banker's Island (Shackleford), with banamine and ACTH at Monmouth prior to the raid on her stable.

When caught with the contraband, Battula had been about to start a 15-day ban resulting from a separate dexamethasone positive incurred May 19, 2019, at Monmouth.

“Although the final decision accepts most of the ALJ's findings and conclusions, it rejects the ALJ's use of the criminal merger doctrine and her recommended penalties,” said NJRC chair Pamela Clyne, reading the proposed motion prior to the vote. “The final decision finds that the appropriate penalties for possession of the vials, needles and drugs are a one-year and six-month suspension and a $5,000 fine.”

Clyne continued: “The final decision also adopts the ALJ's imposition of a one-year suspension and a $2,500 fine for injecting the horse at Monmouth Park in July 2019. Considering the trainer's penalty history, which includes two other drug positives, the final decision concludes that the appropriate penalties in this matter are suspensions totaling two years and six months and fines totaling $7,500. Finally, the final decision also clarifies that the rule prohibits possession of the injectable bottles as well as possession of the prohibited drugs that may be in them.”

Battula's attorney had argued that the drugs were planted by a disgruntled former employee.

Battula, who was 31 at the time of the violations, had only been training since 2015, with a 7-13-14 record from 75 starters and earnings of $250,541. Prior to that she was a jockey between 2011 and 2013.

According to a 2013 Horse Illustrated profile, Battula, a North American Racing Academy attendee, had been the first female from India to earn a jockey's license in America after having attained a bachelor's degree in biotechnology in India.

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New Jersey Commission Adopts Stricter Whip Rules: Prevents Use ‘Except For Reasons Of Safety’

On Wednesday, the New Jersey Racing Commission issued a strict new rule governing jockeys' use of the riding whip, according to the Daily Racing Form. Beginning in 2021, jockeys at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, NJ will not be allowed to use the whip “except for reasons of safety.”

The commission adopted the new rule unanimously, despite objections by The Jockeys' Guild. It is the strictest rule in the United States.

“The prohibition of the use of riding crops, except when necessary for the safety of horse or rider, will be perceived in a positive light by the general public,” said a statement from the NJRC. “The proposed repeal and new rules are of the utmost importance in adapting the industry to avoid the currently negative public perception of whipping a horse.”

Stewards will be in charge of determining whether jockeys used the whip to maintain control of the horse, and will be able to fine or suspend jockeys if they determine a jockey used the whip “to achieve a better placing.”

The rule continues: “If the riding crop is used, under the supervision of the stewards, there shall be a visual inspection of each horse following each race for evidence of excessive or brutal use of the riding crop.”

Specifications for the whip itself include that it must be “soft-padded [and] have a shaft and a soft tube,” that it does not exceed eight ounces in weight or 30 inches in length, and has a minimum shaft diameter of three-eighths of one inch. Additionally, “the shaft, beyond the grip, must be smooth, with no protrusions or raised surface, and covered by shock absorbing material that gives a compression factor of at least one millimeter throughout its circumference.”

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