In response, the CHRB have denied a stay of the stewards' decision but stated that it will “assign a Hearing Officer in this matter where the issue of timeliness of the appeal and appeal itself will be heard and a proposed decision submitted to the Board for consideration,” according to an order issued by the CHRB Tuesday.

The plaintiffs in the appeal are owners China Horse Club International Limited, Head of Plains Partners, Starlight Racing, WinStar Farm, jockey Mike Smith and trainer Bob Baffert.

After the New York Times first reported that Justify had tested positive post-race for scopolamine, Mick Ruis, owner-trainer of the runner-up that day, Bolt d'Oro, sought to have the result of the race overturned with Bolt d'Oro declared the winner.

Ruis alleged that the CHRB failed to follow its own rules when it decided not to pursue penalties after Justify's positive test. The CHRB argued that Justify should not be disqualified because the positive test was the result of contamination linked to jimson weed.

At the end of last year, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge ordered the CHRB to set aside the stewards' 2020 decision and issue a new ruling disqualifying winner Justify from the Santa Anita Derby.

Early in March, the CHRB reached a separate settlement that called for the agency to pay Ruis $300,000, and to order a redistribution of the $1-million purse.

In last week's notice, Amanda Groves, who represents Justify's connections, argued that grounds for an appeal included how the plaintiffs were not a party to the lawsuit between Ruis and the CHRB, leading to “Procedural irregularities and denial of due process and/or a fair and impartial hearing.”

Groves also reiterated the CHRB's original claim, writing that “it is undisputed that the positive scopolamine test was a result of environmental contamination due to inadvertent exposure to jimsonweed in hay/straw.”

BloodHorse reported that Ruis's attorneys had filed a response arguing that none of the grounds raised in the appeal are relevant.

When asked about the contents of the letter, Darrell Vienna, who represents Ruis, told the TDN that the CHRB issued the disqualification order “because they were ordered to do so by the court.”

The court did not demand that the CHRB hold another hearing on the matter, Vienna added. “It just issued an order to disqualify the horse, Justify, and to redistribute the purse,” he said.

“If the Justify parties have issue with that, that issue should be addressed at the Superior Court, in my opinion,” said Vienna. “If the court orders a subordinate agency to do something, they must do it.”

According to last week's notice of appeal, Justify's first-place finish in the Santa Anita Derby accrued the owners a combined $585,000, while Smith and Baffert each received $58,450.

The post CHRB Denies Stay of Justify Decision, Will Entertain Appeal appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

This past December, Ruis released a statement claiming legal victory in the matter and, earlier this month, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge ordered the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) to disqualify Justify and pay $300,000 to Ruis while also redistributing the purse. During his racing career, Justify was campaigned by a partnership consisting China Horse Club International Ltd., Head of Plains Partners, Starlight Racing, and Winstar Farm.

According to DRF, a board of California stewards issued a ruling Saturday ordering Justify's ownership to relinquish the $585,000 in first-place prize money. Trainer Bob Baffert and jockey Mike Smith must also return their portion of the purse, which is typically 10% of the winnings. The money must be forfeited by Apr. 29, with all trophies also returned.

Justify, who is now a successful sire standing at Coolmore America, will also see his race record adjusted from six-for-six to five-for-six. California stewards Ron Church, John Herbuveaux, and Kim Sawyer signed Saturday's order.

The post Justify’s 2018 Santa Anita Purse Money to be Redistributed, Record to be Adjusted appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Dick Downey of the Blood-Horse was first to report the settlement on Thursday, citing details made public in court filings.

Neither the settlement nor the underlying lawsuit involved any direct claims against 'TDN Rising Star' Justify's then-ownership group (China Horse Club, Head of Plains Partners, Starlight Racing, and WinStar Farm) or the colt's trainer, Bob Baffert.

Although, as Downey pointed out in the Blood-Horse, “Presumably they retain the right to appeal the stewards' ruling” and the purse redistribution.

By winning the Santa Anita Derby, the undefeated Justify was able to earn necessary qualifying points to enter the GI Kentucky Derby. He then swept the remaining two Triple Crown races, the GI Preakness S. and GI Belmont S, but was retired from racing six weeks later after developing a left front ankle filling.

It wasn't until 15 months after Justify's Triple Crown romp that a September 2019 bombshell story in the New York Times revealed that Justify had tested positive for scopolamine after he won the Santa Anita Derby, and that the result had been kept hidden from the public.

The Times further reported that CHRB officials arranged to handle Justify's positive “differently than usual” by holding an August 2018 executive session hearing during which CHRB members voted unanimously not to disqualify Justify or to sanction Baffert because the positive test was the result of contamination linked to jimson weed.

The stewards subsequently claimed they had no jurisdiction on the matter as it had already been decided, a decision with which the CHRB later concurred.

Ruis then began what would turn out to be a years-long legal quest to have the result of the race overturned with Bolt d'Oro declared the winner, alleging that the CHRB failed to follow its own rules when it decided not to pursue penalties after Justify's positive test.

Carlo Fisco, one of Ruis's attorneys, told TDN via email Thursday evening that the settlement also will quell a separate civil case pending against the CHRB that sought monetary damages.

“We have settled our monetary claims against the CHRB, which now has the additional duty to recover and redistribute the purse to the rightful owners including our client,” Fisco wrote. “It was never about the money. I'm hoping we can all move on and put the actions in 2018 of a few bad actors behind us. It's all been settled save for the purse redistribution.”

According to the Mar. 5 court document that outlines the settlement, “within five days of [the CHRB] being served with the signed Judgment, the Board of Stewards will enter a new order disqualifying the horse Justify and redistributing the purse pursuant to Rule 1859.5 and ordering that all purse monies earned or awarded be returned to the Paymaster of Purses at Santa Anita within 30 days of their order. If the purse is not redistributed within 30 days, [the] CHRB shall use its best efforts pursuant to its rules [in] ensuring that the [court ruling] is upheld.”

The settlement filing states that the CHRB's obligations “are expected to be fully performed by CHRB using its best efforts as expeditiously as possible.”

The settlement also stipulates that “Nothing contained in this Agreement shall be construed as an admission of liability, any wrongdoing, or any violation of law.”

The post CHRB Settles with Ruis in ’18 Santa Anita Derby Dispute Involving Justify DQ appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

At issue was a report in the New York Times that revealed that Justify had tested positive for the substance scopolamine in the Santa Anita Derby. At the time, scopolamine was on a list of substances that, when found in a horses's system, required that the horse be disqualified. According to reports and Ruis's lawyer, the CHRB acted on recommendations from then-executive director Rick Baedeker and equine medical director Dr. Rick Arthur. It was their call that Justify should not be disqualified because the positive test was the result of contamination linked to jimson weed.

Had the New York Times not broken the story some 17 months after the Santa Anita Derby, probably, no one would have ever known that the horse had tested positive. Once the story was brought to light, Ruis went to work and hired attorney Darrell Vienna. Ruis stood to make $400,000, the difference between first and second-place money in the $1-million Santa Anita Derby.

There are, however, a few remaining questions:

1) Is this the final word or may there be still more appeals and fights in the courts?

“There is the potential for appeal,” Vienna said. “My understanding of the judge's order is that the stewards must now issue an order to disqualify Justify. There's the potential that the stewards' ruling can't be appealed. That's kind of confusing because they're under the order of the court. Now, is there going to be an appeal to the judgment of the Superior Court judge. They could appeal to the stewards, the court, one or the other or both. Hopefully, there will be no more appeals and we can just move on.”

2) All of the qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby that Justify picked up came from the Santa Anita Derby. Had the California stewards disqualified him from that race and did so in a timely manner, he would not have been eligible to run in the Kentucky Derby and obviously wouldn't have won the Triple Crown. Do the owners of the horses who finished behind Justify in the Triple Crown races have a case and could, say, Good Magic (Curlin) eventually be declared the winner of the 2018 Derby?

“I don't think so,” Vienna said. “I am aware of a case in California in which there was the appeal of a winner of a race who had subsequently been disqualified from a qualifying race that got him into the race he won. In that case, the California courts held that the horse's eligibility was determined at time of nomination and participation. Under those circumstances, I don't believe there will be any change in the order of the Kentucky Derby or the other Triple Crown races.”

A spokesperson for Churchill Downs told Horseracing Nation that the track has no plans to alter the result of the 2018 Derby.

3) How did this ever become the mess that it did? And why didn't the CHRB follow its own rules?

Vienna maintains that if the California Horse Racing Board followed it own rules the case would have been cut and dried and dealt with promptly. He maintains that the rules were simple and not open to interpretation. He says that any horse that tested positive for a prohibited substance had to be disqualified.

“It's all very simple,” he said. “All they had to do was follow their own rules. There was never any real determination of what happened after the closed session. The closed session lacked finality and lacked all the indices of true decision making.  There was no notice to the involved parties. There were no witnesses. All you had was Dr. Rick Arthur making the argument that scopolamine was the result of contamination. The problem is the rules in California at the time called for the disqualification of a horse who was positive for a prohibited substance that was in classes 2 through 3, which scopolamine was. They could have correctly absolved Mr. Baffert or any one else of any responsibility and still under law be required to disqualify the horse. That was the gist of our case. That's all we ever asked for. Our case was based solely on the fact that there was prohibited medication in that horse's system and, as a result of that, the rules called for the horse to be disqualified. I don't think it was very confusing at all.”

4) The process dragged on for some 4 1/2 years and if not for the New York Times report, it may never have been known that Justify tested plosive for the substance. Was the CHRB trying to sweep this under the rug?

“I think that is the case,” Vienna said. “In one executive session, they were provided with one side of the story and they wanted it to go away. There is a process in California law that provides for dismissal of a complaint, but if you look at the history of the statute in California it really applies to charges against a trainer and not the dismissal of a disqualification. That would conflict with another statute in California that says that no horse can benefit if they are carrying a degree of a substance in his system.

“Mick, like all of us is worn out, but he is pleased. This happened in 2018 and no one knew anything about it until 2019. That's a tremendously long journey for something. It could have been settled right away if horse racing board simply decided to follow their owns rules.”

Can Full-Brothers Win the Derby Back to Back?

With his win in the GII Remsen S., Dornoch (Good Magic) is on his way to the GI Kentucky Derby, where will try to pull off something that has never been done. He is a full-bother to GI 2023 Kentucky Derby winner Mage and siblings, either full-brothers or half-brothers, have never teamed up to win the Derby.

To show just how difficult that feat is, take Secretariat. His dam, Somethingroyal, produced four foals who made it to the races after Secretariat. They combined to win three races with total earnings of $38,241.

There have been a couple of dams who produced more than one win in a Triple Crown races. Thanks to research done by Randy Moss of NBC Sports, we know that the dam Leisure produced two Preakness winners in Royal Tourist (1908) and Holiday (1914). Better Than Honour was the dam of 2006 GI Belmont S. winner Jazil (Seeking the Gold) and 2007 winner Rags to Riches (A.P. Indy).

As for Dornoch, a lot will have to go right for him to win the 2024 Derby, but at this point in the game, he's far ahead of where Mage was at the same point. The Remsen was Dornoch's fourth career start and with the Remsen, he has added a graded stakes win to his record. Mage didn't start until Jan. 28 of this 3-year-old year and had not won a stakes race coming into the Kentucky Derby.

Noble Indy Makes It Home

Remember the story of Noble Indy (Take Charge Indy), the winner of the 2018 GII Louisiana Derby? He never ran back to that race and wound up being sent to Puerto Rico, where racing can often lead to the worst possible outcomes. Well, Fred Hart, who owned the dam of Noble Indy, Noble Maz (Storm Boot) was determined to bring him back home. Working together with Caribbean Thoroughbred Aftercare Inc., he has made that happen and Noble Indy landed at Old Friends last week. It's worth noting that Mike Repole and WinStar Farms, who were two of his owners during his prime racing days, foot the costs required to transport the horse back to the U.S. It's good to see owners accept the responsibilities that come with providing a good life for their horses after their careers are over.

The post The Week in Review: Takeaways from Justify-Scopolamine Verdict, and Other Thoughts appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

After it was revealed in a report that Justify had tested positive for scopolamine, Ruis began that quest to have the result of the race overturned with Bolt d'Oro declared the winner. Ruis alleged that the CHRB failed to follow its own rules when it decided not to pursue penalties after Justify's positive test. The CHRB acted on recommendations from then-executive director Rick Baedeker and equine medical director Dr. Rick Arthur. It was their call that Justify should not be disqualified because the positive test was the result of contamination linked to jimson weed.

The lack of disqualification at the time was especially significant as the qualifying 'Road to the Kentucky Derby' points Justify earned from his win in the Santa Anita Derby–his first career stakes start–made him eligible for the GI Kentucky Derby a month later. He not only won the Kentucky Derby, but went on to win the Triple Crown as well. Justify, a 'TDN Rising Star' conditioned by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, was raced at that time for the partnership of China Horse Club, Head of Plains Partners LLC, Starlight Racing, and WinStar Farm, while Bolt d'Oro was trained for Ruis Racing LLC by Mick Ruis.

The statement, in its entirety, follows:

“Ruis Racing LLC announced today a significant legal victory against the California Horse Racing Board. Represented by attorneys Carlo Fisco and Darrell Vienna, Ruis Racing LLC obtained an order from Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Mitchell L. Beckloff directing the California Horse Racing Board Stewards to set aside their December 9, 2020 decision and issue a new ruling disqualifying Justify from the 2018 Santa Anita Derby.

“The Steward had originally ruled that they lacked jurisdiction to conduct a Disqualification Hearing in this matter. The Court disagreed and stated in its decision that there is “no reason for remand” as there is “no doubt” the Stewards would have disqualified Justify if they understood that they had the authority to do so.

“Today's decision supports the longstanding California Horse Racing Board rule that any horse racing with a prohibited substance in its system must be disqualified and the purse redistributed.”

TDN was able to option a copy of the ruling, which appears here. The following is found in the ruling's conclusion:

“As the Stewards have already determined what the result would be if they could reach the issue of disqualification on the evidence before them, the court will issue a writ directing the Stewards to set aside their December 9, 2020 decision and Remand Decision and to make a new order disqualifying Justify. Based on the twice-stated clear position of the Stewards, the court finds there is “no reason for remand” of the matter as there is “no real doubt” the Stewards would have disqualified Justify if they understood that Respondent provided them with such authority when Respondent filed the complaint against the Justify Parties.”

According to CHRB spokesperson Mike Marten, the agency has not yet decided whether to appeal the ruling, and there was no further comment on a “pending legal matter.”

Attorney Darrell Vienna, representing Ruis, said that Justify's connections theoretically could also appeal the ruling, “even though this suit was simply between Mick Ruis, under Ruis Racing LLC, versus the California Horse Racing Board.”

Ruis also has a separate civil case pending against the CHRB seeking monetary damages. That case is also filed in the Los Angeles County Superior Court.

“They don't run in parallel. I think if we had lost this case it would have been very problematic for the civil case,” said Vienna.

“We don't have a direct claim against Justify's people,” added Vienna. “The awards and what we want has to come from the CHRB. If they want to chase down Justify's owners for the funds, they can do that. We're not going to do that.”

A footnote in the judge's ruling criticizes the CHRB for entering into a settlement agreement with Ruis, for a stewards purse DQ hearing on the Santa Anita Derby. The stewards subsequently claimed they had no jurisdiction on the matter as it had already been decided–a decision the board then concurred with.

“It strains credulity that a state agency would enter into a settlement agreement providing the other party with illusory relief. That is, why would Respondent settle litigation with Petitioner knowing its complaint could not (as a legal matter) be adjudicated. To the extent the agency did mislead Petitioner, equitable estoppel would likely preclude the agency from depriving the other party with the benefit of its bargain,” the ruling states.

According to Vienna, “we were enticed to enter into an agreement that was not going to be honored.”

Because of the qualifying points system in place for the Kentucky Derby, Justify's berth in that year's contest was incumbent upon his running first or second in the Santa Anita Derby.

When asked if the ruling puts into question Justify's Kentucky Derby win, therefore, Vienna pointed to a similar case he had previously litigated “in which a horse's eligibility was valid until it was disproven.”

“At the time of the running of the Derby, Justify was eligible based on the then-pending decision,” said Vienna. “Subsequently today, that decision was overturned. But at the time he participated in the Derby he had, for all intents and purposes, achieved the right to run in the Derby.”

Vienna added, “if the board had done what they should have done in the first place, he would have been disqualified, and that issue of whether he had enough points for the Derby would have been decided back then.”

Said Vienna, “There's no question that Justify's a very good horse and a great sire, and that Bolt d'Oro's a good horse and a great sire.”

He added, “I'd like to see everybody get back to racing and not fighting.”

The post Court Orders Disqualification of Justify’s Santa Anita Derby Win appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Ruis Racing owned Bolt d'Oro, the Santa Anita Derby runner-up, who would have been in line for the race's $600,000 first-place purse (he earned $200,000 for second).

Press Release:

This morning, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Mitchell L. Beckloff overruled the CHRB's attempt to have the purse disqualification matter dismissed involving the horse Justify and allowed the matter to go forward. Ruis Racing LLC has alleged that the CHRB's failure to disqualify Justify from the 2018 Santa Anita Derby after testing positive for a prohibited substance was a violation of its own mandatory rules.

Ruis Racing attorneys Carlo Fisco and Darrell Vienna were encouraged by today's decision and look forward to finally bringing this matter to trial. Carlo Fisco stated: “We have a long way to go but are pleased that the court confirmed our client's undeniable claim in pursuing this case. Today was a technical hurdle introduced by the CHRB in attempt to escape its responsibility for the Justify debacle. We remain confident that the trial on this matter will expose the legal improprieties of the former CHRB Board and its former Equine Medical Director as well as the utter refusal by the CHRB Board of Stewards to correct an obvious injustice.”

Trial is expected to occur in mid-2022.

The post Judge Rules In Favor Of Ruis Racing In Lawsuit Over Justify’s Santa Anita Derby Victory appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

It's well known now in racing circles that the CHRB held a closed-door meeting in which the regulatory agency opted not to pursue any action against Justify's trainer, Bob Baffert, and declined to disqualify the horse from his victory in the Santa Anita Derby. That meeting took place in the summer after the colt had won the Triple Crown. Justify got into the Kentucky Derby field with qualifying points earned in the Santa Anita Derby.

Records obtained by the Washington Post reveal that Dr. Rick Arthur, equine medical director for the CHRB, assured Baffert in late April that the investigation would not likely impact Justify's impending run in the Triple Crown series. Baffert was notified of the positive ahead of the Kentucky Derby. In an April 26 email, Arthur told the CHRB he had spoken with Baffert and “told him there would be nothing from CHRB before the KY Derby, unlikely before the Preakness and possibly not until after the Belmont. I told him I thought there was a good indication that these were feed contamination.”

CHRB investigators proceeded with their fact-finding mission after the Kentucky Derby and went in search of hay samples to see if they could find jimsonweed, which was blamed by the CHRB and Baffert for the scopolamine overage. They also opted to DNA test the post-race blood samples from Justify and others with detectable levels of scopolamine. Records show Arthur said that testing request would be “a big deal” and asked if it could wait until after the Preakness, which was still a week and a half away.

Test results on hay samples came back after the Preakness and revealed the leafy plant investigators had pulled was milkweed, not jimsonweed. Then, Larry Bell, the owner of the Citrus Feed Company that sold hay to Baffert, showed up at the CHRB office with plant samples he said he had picked up off the ground in the parking lot a month earlier. Those contained jimsonweed, although Bell said he couldn't tell whether the samples had fallen off a truck delivering a shipment to Baffert. Bell, according to the Post, had previously testified on Baffert's behalf, although it wasn't clear in what circumstances.

Read more at the Washington Post

The post Records Reveal New Details About CHRB Investigation Of Justify Case appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

“On that list of drugs that were to be reclassified was CBD, the drug that was detected in [the McAnally-trained Roses and Candy],” Gonzales said during Wednesday's CHRB meeting. “Why did it take so long to come up with the complaint that the stewards are going to be hearing? I'm pretty confident that when that list was compiled that both [CHRB executive director Scott Chaney] and [CHRB equine medical director Rick Arthur, DVM] knew that there was a positive test…

“Given what we know, I believe the board would have handled this if we had the power to do [so],” Gonzales continued. “But what does not sit right with me is that the board was not given a proper heads up that as we went about approving a list of medications… that there very well could be some pending cases. And after that [Jan. 21 meeting] we gave it a full month, and not once did anybody say, 'This list that you're voting on, be aware that there are some cases pending.'”

The May 19 assertions by Gonzales represent the latest salvo in a barrage of disclosure woes and internal conflicts that have encumbered the CHRB over the last three years and resulted in a significant turnover of commissioners and staff that at times has left the new version of the agency polarized.

At the root of the thorny nest of transparency barbs is the way the former makeup of the CHRB handled scopolamine findings in 2018. After 2 1/2 years of closed-session decision-making and a complicated court battle to publicly reopen the case over whether to disqualify Triple Crown winner Justify from the 2018 GI Santa Anita Derby, the case later hinged on whether scopolamine was a Class 3 or Class 4 substance at the time of Justify's positive post-race test.

The CHRB generally follows the Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI) Uniform Classification Guidelines for Foreign Substances and Recommended Penalties when establishing rules for drugs. But since California's Office of Administrative Law (OAL) doesn't allow the CHRB to change rules by automatically referencing another authority's code, the racing agency has to go through a drawn-out, sometimes years-long process to make even minute changes to drug classifications

This was the case for scopolamine in 2018 (which was in the process of being downgraded from Class 3 to the less-severe Class 4 but was not yet officially the rule when it was found in Justify) and for CBD last November (which was unclassified at the time of the Roses and Candy positive but was voted to be switched to Class 3 by the CHRB in February).

Complicating matters further with CBD is the fact that any unclassified positives in California by default are treated as Class 1, Penalty Category A violations, the most severe level of infraction that triggers the toughest penalties.

This means that the allegedly in-limbo nature of CBD's 1A or 3B distinction (as the CHRB awaits OAL approval of its latest list of classifications) makes the issue ripe for future litigation if McAnally's case ever gets pushed to court.

On May 18, CHRB spokesperson Mike Marten told TDN that the agency's staff will recommend to the stewards that they treat the positive as a lower 3B violation. One day later, at Wednesday's meeting, Gonzales told fellow commissioners he has concerns about CHRB staff making a recommendation like that to stewards prior to the hearing of a case–both in terms of the content and delivery of the recommendation.

“Part of what's gotten this board in some real challenging circumstances is when we arbitrarily try to move or shift a drug [classification] before a rule is completed,” Gonzales said. “I also want to make sure that the stewards know, as I read in the reports, that the CHRB staff is going to be making a recommendation. Well let me be just very clear, and I hope all stewards who are listening to this know that you do a good job. And we expect for you to act fairly and independently. I was not aware that CHRB staff weighs in on stewards' decisions. That was actually a surprise to me.”

When asked directly by Gonzales to explain why McAnally's CBD investigation wasn't disclosed to commissioners as they prepared to vote on the new schedule of drug classifications, Chaney answered by speaking to the time frame while Arthur chose to address the classification part of it.

Chaney–who preceded his remarks by saying that he couldn't talk about specifics on McAnally's case because the hearing is pending–explained that, “I know in this particular case a split sample was requested, and obviously that takes a few weeks. And then the investigative team does their investigation, and once that's complete we, you know, we file the complaint. That's typically the time between race day and filing the complaint…

“When the sample came back, as is always the case in my duty under [state] code, I informed the entire board, the commission, of the positive test. That is still true even today, although…the law has [recently] changed, in terms of confidentiality. So with respect to any test that occurred before Jan. 1, those are confidential unless and until we file a complaint… We now report positive tests either after 72 hours has elapsed from informing the trainer, or after the split sample comes back.”

Arthur kept his remarks brief. “Let me just get right to the heart of the issue,” he said. “Cannabidiol, which was not classified under the current standard of regulation, was proposed to be a 3B in August of 2020, three or four months before this violation.”

Arthur also said that a 3B classification is what the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium recommends, but he noted that the ARCI eventually settled on a different 2B recommendation as it retooled its recommendations. He added that with specific respect to California, the distinction between a Class 2 or 3 is not a hugely significant because any Class 3 or more severe positive results in a disqualification; the trainer's penalty is what gets derived based on the Category B designation.

But here's where another confusing twist in the case comes into play, and it involves what appears to be personal sniping among board members and CHRB staffers: When CBD's 3B classification–and an entire slate of other seemingly non-controversial reclassifications–finally came up for a vote at the Jan. 21, 2021, CHRB meeting, it was Gonzales himself who orchestrated a delay on that vote by one month.

Gonzales, at that Jan. 21 meeting, said the CHRB should not try to “ramrod” new rules through at a time when the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority is being formed to set its own regulatory framework. Gonzales's against-the-grain stance–some would call it petty–went against the recommendations of Arthur, Chaney, and CHRB chair Gregory Ferraro, DVM. To underscore the personal rifts, during that sometimes abrasive tele-meeting, Arthur could be heard muttering in the background that that Gonzales's point of view was “crap.”

The next month, when the CHRB did end up passing the drug classifications by a 6-0 vote, Gonzales was absent from the meeting.

On Wednesday, Gonzales asked chairman Ferraro to weigh in on his concerns about how the staff has handled the CBD classification and McAnally's positive for it.

“Regarding whether we as a commission were informed of pending positives prior to the change in regulations, I don't know if that's because we weren't informed, to be honest with you, or whether I wasn't paying enough attention to remember it,” Ferraro said. “So I hate to accuse or comment on that because it very well could have been presented to us and I simply don't have a recollection. But I do support your concerns regarding our transparency, and the fact that we need to strictly follow procedures.”

Gonzales summed up: “I also just want to make sure that under no circumstances are the stewards or staff to arbitrarily reclassify a drug of any kind unless it has gone through the full rulemaking process.

“More importantly, I want to say one thing,” Gonzales added. “Trainer Ron McAnally is one of the upmost citizens and outstanding horsemen that we will ever see. [In] my time as a backstretch worker, people lined up to work for his barn because he treated backstretch workers incredibly well. So I want to just make that known that this is not about Mr. McAnally. This is more about how CHRB management handled the situation.”

The post New CHRB Transparency Issues Arise in McAnally CBD Investigation appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Charlatan was the winner of the GI Arkansas Derby, while Gamine won an allowance race the same day. Oaklawn announced lidocaine positives for the pair, disqualified them from the victories, and redistributed purse money last year.

Tuesday, at the conclusion of the hearing, Baffert's attorney, W. Craig Robertson, said, “The ruling is that Charlatan and Gamine's wins are reinstated. There will be no suspension for Bob. There will be a $5,000 fine for Bob for each horse, for a total of a $10,000 fine.”

Robertson had argued that the positives were a result of Baffert's assistant, Jimmy Barnes, inadvertently contaminating the horses because he was wearing a Salonpas patch, and that the lidocaine was transferred from his hands to the horses. Moreover, he argued that the trace amounts of the drug were so low that they couldn't have been performance-enhancing.

Of the hearing, Robertson said, “There wasn't a whole lot of discussion. But basically, as I understood what they were saying, they felt like there were problems with the testing, and that it was clear that at these levels, there would have been no pharmacology in the horse, so no performance-enhancing effect on the outcome of the race.

“I told them that there were seven reasons why they needed to dismiss the matter,” Robertson continued. “In broad strokes: there were a lot of admitted errors in the testing and with the testing laboratory, and broadly, my argument was that you could not rely upon the test results given all the admitted errors and mistakes. An additional argument was that there was no pharmacology and so they needed to consider all the factors.”

Robertson said that he was relieved for Baffert, who lived with something of a cloud over his head in 2020 due to the disqualifications and to the revelation that Justify had incurred a scopolamine positive in the 2018 Santa Anita Derby. A complaint by trainer Mick Ruis in that case was dismissed by the CHRB.

“I'm elated,” said Robertson. “I'm mostly happy for Bob, because this has been hanging over his head, and I feel it's been hanging over his head unfairly. We felt all along if we could get in front of the commission and present all of the facts and all of the evidence, that we had a compelling case. Now that doesn't mean you're always going to get the result you want, but this time we did and I'm thrilled.”

Reached as he was boarding a plane to return to California, Baffert said, “I'm happy with the result and it has really been wearing on us–on Jimmy and us–and us and it's nice to see that the horses were rewarded for their performances. They need to have this conversation about the testing. They need to be more precise about it. I feel like trainers are sitting ducks. These contamination levels, they're testing at these levels, and it's tough. It's been a very demanding year.”

Baffert said that because the public only gets part of the story, there's often an immediate presumption of guilt when the initial story is published.

“We weren't at fault, but public perception doesn't know that because they don't know what's going on,” he said. “I don't want to be painted with that brush. You just have to be careful it doesn't happen again, but racing regulators need to figure out the science.”

He referenced Gamine's disqualification from the GI Kentucky Oaks after she tested positive for betamethasone, a permitted medication in Kentucky, but with a mandated two-week withdrawal time. Craig Robertson said she was given the drug 18 days before the race.

“With Gamine and the betamethasone, we did everything by the rules and we still got in trouble,” said Baffert.

Robertson said that he was relieved to put this behind them and move on.

“The two big issues that were hanging over him were Justify and Charlatan and he has been exonerated in both cases,” said Robertson. “It's the just result and I'm really just thrilled for him. I'm grateful that the Arkansas Racing Commission stewards took the time and carefully considered the evidence and rendered a fair decision.”

The post Charlatan, Gamine DQs Overturned appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

A CHRB release issued Friday stated: “After a hearing on Oct. 29, 2020, the Board of Stewards at Santa Anita Park racetrack issued a Statement of Decision Dec. 9 to dismiss complaints filed by the current California Horse Racing Board [CHRB] in the combined cases of the horses Justify and Hoppertunity, both of whom had scopolamine detected in post-race samples following their victories. CHRB filed the complaint as part of a settlement of a lawsuit filed by Mick Ruis, owner of Santa Anita Derby runner-up Bolt d'Oro. Meeting in executive session Thursday, the seven commissioners considered dual requests from Ruis to either appeal that decision by the stewards or overturn it outright. The commissioners rejected both requests.”

The post CHRB Votes to Let Justify’s Santa Anita Derby Win Stand appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post