Pennsylvania Racing Commission | Horse Racing Free Tips

Trainer Richard Vega Handed Two-Year Suspension

Trainer Richard Vega has been hit with a two-year suspension by the Pennsylvania Racing Commission after a May 25 backstretch raid at Parx allegedly turned up a number of needles and syringes in his tack room.

Paulick Report was the first to report on Vega's suspension, which was handed down June 29 and does not expire until June 28, 2023.

According to a ruling posted on the Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission's website, during the search of Vega's tack room investigators found 21 loaded syringes, 18 needles, one intravenous filled bag and one intravenous catheter. The ruling did not specify what, if anything, was found in the syringes and the racing commission's Director of Thoroughbred Horse Racing Tom Chuckas did not return a phone call seeking comment. As in most states, in Pennsylvania, only licensed veterinarians may be in possession of needles and syringes, no matter what drugs or medications might be found in them.

Vega's attorney Alan Pincus told the TDN Tuesday that he had filed an appeal in Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court seeking a stay of the suspension. If the stay is granted, Vega could be allowed to continue training.

The search of Vega's tack room was part of a wide-ranging investigation in which cars coming in and out of the stable area were checked, 66 out-of-competition tests were performed and six barns and six tack rooms were searched. To date, Vega is the only Parx-based trainer to have been suspended.

Vega was summarily suspended following the raid and has not started a horse since May 19.

So far as the severity of the infraction goes, Chuckas has sent a mixed message. Shortly after the raid and during a meeting of the commission, Chuckas said that a “significant amount of contraband” had been found and said what was found were “items that have no business on the backside.” But, a month later, Chuckas, during another commission meeting, said that raids at both Parx and Penn National found “nothing of substance.”

“[Vega's] due process was horribly violated,” Pincus said. “And Mr. Chuckas made comments saying there was nothing of any substance found. As soon as the judge makes a ruling I will have plenty more to say.”

Vega has been enshrined in the Parx Hall of Fame and has won 1,115 races during a career that began in 1992. His starters have earned $19,519,981. He emigrated from Cuba in 1980 and began his career on the track as a groom in Florida. His clients have included Sal DeBunda, who is the president and general counsel of the Pennsylvania Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (PTHA) and is a member of the state racing commission.

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Parx Backstretch Raid Yields Significant Contraband

Recent backstretch raids staged by the Pennsylvania Racing Commission at Parx have uncovered what Director of Thoroughbred Horse Racing at Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Tom Chuckas described as a “significant amount of contraband” and “items that have no business on the backside.”

Chuckas made the revelations during a regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday of the Pennsylvania Racing Commission. The meeting was held over Zoom and a one-minute-and-twenty second segment was captured and posted on Twitter by veterinarian Kathryn Papp. Pennsylvania Racing Commissioner Russell Jones took part in the meeting and confirmed the authenticity of Papp's Twitter post.

“No names were given to us but I know they found a lot of (expletive),” Jones told the TDN. “They found a lot of evidence, syringes, whatever you call that stuff. Whatever it is they found, a lot of stuff that you might think is incriminating.”

Jones said the raid was conducted “over the weekend,” but did not know if it was conducted on Saturday or Sunday or both days.

In what may or may not be a related development, there were 25 scratches from Tuesday's card at Parx, including nine horses who were ordered scratched by the stewards. The stewards' scratches included all three horses entered by trainer Richard Vega.

Chuckas, who did not return a phone call seeking comment, told those on the Zoom call that the investigation was extensive.

“We went through the barn area and the tack rooms,” he said. “We did six solo barn searches, six tack room searches. In addition to that we looked at given grooms' quarters and five external tack rooms. Sixty-six out-of-competition tests were performed. In our enforcement action, I can say without getting into too much detail that a significant amount of contraband was discovered. Dealing with medications, unlabeled compounded or expired…I regret to say they were contraband items that have no business on the backside, with needles and syringes and some other things that we discovered.”

A subsequent request to the racing commission asking for them to release the minutes of Tuesday's session also went unanswered.

“Whatever it is, they found a lot of stuff that you might think is incriminating,” Jones said, adding that “they had a very active weekend.”

Chuckas said he was not at liberty to reveal the names of those trainers who were involved while the investigation is ongoing.

Jones said that the racing commission had not been able to conduct normal investigations during the height of the COVID pandemic and was just now starting to catch up. Chuckas implied that similar investigations at the state's other two Thoroughbred racetracks, Presque Isle Downs and Penn National, were imminent.

“Moving forward, I think it is fair to say that the other tracks will receive the same enforcement action,” he said.

Jones said that he had become concerned that so much time had passed since the last time the commission launched such an investigation.

“I'm thrilled there is something to start with,” Jones said. “I had been impatient. They were great about doing out-of-competition testing in 2019 but in 2020 it was a fraction of what we did before. They're going to be ongoing normal procedure now, as far as out-of-competition testing goes. We've got a lot of stuff that we are working on now that ought to come to fruition. I hope these raids, or whatever you call them, are going to provide something that's worth reporting.”

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Pennsylvania Amends Lasix Rules

The Pennsylvania Racing Commission has adopted a new set of rules regarding the medication Lasix, which will soon be banned in all 2-year-old races and graded stakes. The rules, which were approved at a regularly scheduled commission meeting Tuesday, will go into effect June 1.

There are seven graded stakes races set to be run this year at Parx, including the GI Pennsylvania Derby and the GI Cotillion S.

“I thought that it was obvious that this was the right way to go because Lasix gets abused badly,” said Racing Commissioner Russell Jones, Jr. “There are horses on it that don't need to be on it. It's just 2-year-olds and graded stakes for now. One step at a time.”

Pennsylvania joins a growing list of states that have cracked down on the use of Lasix. For the first time in decades, it will not be allowed at any of this year's Triple Crown races.

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