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Feds: Servis Even Lied About Maximum Security To Colt’s Owners

Six days before he is to be sentenced as the final–and most notoriously prominent–defendant in the 2020 racehorse doping conspiracy scandal, the barred trainer Jason Servis was described by federal prosecutors in court documents as a person who “lied, repeatedly, and persisted in his illegal conduct even when confronted with irrefutable proof that his conduct was dishonest and violated racing rules.”

Culled from a trove of wiretapped surveillance (that would have been used against him at trial had he not pleaded guilty last December as part of a plea bargain) was a newly released transcript used by prosecutors as part of their July 20 sentencing submission to underscore that Servis even “lied to Maximum Security's owner prior to the Saudi Cup” by falsely claiming the colt had never been administered any purportedly performance-enhancing substances.

Just nine days after winning that $20 million Saudi Cup in 2020, Servis was one of 31 horsemen, veterinarians, and pharmaceutical suppliers arrested and charged in a series of coordinated law enforcement sweeps. Most of them have long since pleaded guilty or been convicted at trial and are now serving their sentences.

Prosecutors had alleged (and other convicted conspirators had admitted their roles in) Servis's administration of the substance SGF-1000 to Maximum Security during the first half of 2019, when the colt improbably rose from being a $16,000 maiden-claimer to a multiple Grade I winner and the 3-year-old champion colt.

The feds cited a series of emails from December 2019 that juxtaposed how Maximum Security's owner/breeder partnership of Gary and Mary West wanted to exercise the utmost of veterinary caution two months prior to running in the Saudi Cup, while Servis had apparently not disclosed to them that he and Maximum Security had already been the targets of investigations initiated by gaming commission regulators and the state police in New York.

The exact name of the person who sent a Dec. 17, 2019, email to Servis is redacted in the exhibit documentation, but the July 20 sentencing submission identifies the sender as Maximum Security's “owner” without specifying which of the Wests it was.

The email chain started with the owner cautioning Servis that “over there” [in Saudi Arabia] “they might consider a sugar cube illegal.” The owner then stated that “if you need any help figuring out their rules I will gladly pay for you to get whatever advice you need.”

Servis then replied, “Sounds good…just an FYI Max has never been on anything out of the ordinary.”

The owner then wrote back, “Jason, consult whoever you need to consult to be 100% certain we don't have any kind of accidental drug violation. If you have to feed Max just hay and organic carrots for a month before the race, do that too!!! I would feel horrible to win a life changing race like this for everyone only to find out we didn't do something right because we didn't know. I will gladly pay for any reasonable consulting work we need to have done to be sure we are 'squeaky clean' for the race.”

Maximum Security won the Saudi Cup. But after Servis's drug conspiracy arrest, the $10-million winning share was withheld.

The Wests initially disputed the purse hold-up, but after Servis pleaded guilty in December 2022, they released a joint statement that said, “Now that Jason Servis has entered a guilty plea, we want to make it clear that if the Saudi Cup decides to redistribute the purse, we would support that decision. Hopefully, that action will prevent future conduct of this nature. We believe the decision to take the Saudi Cup purse from Maximum Security and redistribute it is the correct one.” (As of Thursday, Maximum Security's race record on Equibase still lists him as the 2020 Saudi Cup winner.)

The prosecution's pre-sentence report stated that Maximum Security “was among the many horses in Servis's barn to receive SGF-1000: an unapproved, untested, misbranded and adulterated drug that Servis and his co-conspirators covertly used on racehorses believing it would improve their performance.”

In his own pre-sentencing submission filed with the court July 13, Servis attempted to explain away his use of SGF-1000 and other drugs by claiming he was misled by his veterinarians, a point that the government rebutted in its own court submission.

“He was under no illusions that his conduct was permissible. He was neither deceived nor manipulated,” the feds wrote.

The prosecution continued, at a different point in the submission: “The quality of Servis's acceptance of responsibility is a factor that this Court should consider in weighing the appropriate sentence. While Servis states that he accepts responsibility for his crimes and claims to display remorse, significant aspects of his submission appear aimed at contesting facts related to his guilt, casting doubt on the extent and sincerity of his contrition….

“Licensed trainers are accountable under state racing rules for the illicit doping of racehorses specifically to ensure that trainers are vigilant and liable for illicit conduct,” the feds sated. “That rule also ensures that trainers are responsible for the well-being of the horses they are meant to protect. Servis abdicated that responsibility again and again.

“Servis sought to hide his actions. And Servis enabled others who sought to hide those crimes as well. Servis ignored clear evidence of the criminality of what he was doing and continued his illicit use of adulterated and misbranded drugs up until his arrest.

“Between 2016 and March 2020, Servis abused approved and unapproved bronchodilators, namely, Clenbuterol and an unapproved, compounded version of Clenbuterol sourced from fellow [now-imprisoned] trainer Jorge Navarro.

“The abuse of those drugs for purposes of enhancing his horses' race performance was illicit and risked the health of the horses under his care. Servis' actions and words–when he did not think he was being watched and overheard–demonstrate his knowledge that his conduct was wrong.”

Prior to his plea deal, Servis had been scheduled to go to trial on two felony counts: Conspiracy to misbrand and adulterate performance-enhancing drugs, and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. He would have faced 25 years in prison on those two counts if convicted.

As part of a negotiated plea deal with the government eight months ago, he instead pleaded guilty to a felony charge of misbranding and adulterating a chemical substance (described by prosecutors as similar to the bronchodilator clenbuterol, but stronger), and to a misdemeanor of misbranding and adulterating (for the SGF-1000).

Servis, 66, now faces four years in prison when he is sentenced next Wednesday by Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil of United States District Court (Southern District of New York).

Servis's sentencing submission asked for a sentence “significantly below” those federal guidelines.

Prosecutors, by contrast, requested a sentence “greater than” the three years imposed on convicted veterinarian and SGF-1000 supplier Kristian Rhein, “though below the Guidelines Sentence of 48 months' imprisonment.”

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Jack Wolf Joins the TDN Writers’ Room Podcast

As the managing partner of Starlight Racing, Jack Wolf is a part of a team that can always be counted on to have several prospects for the GI Kentucky Derby. That's the case again this year as the trio of Starlight, SF Racing and Madaket Stables will have horses in Saturday's GII San Felipe S., the GIII Gotham S. and the John Battaglia Memorial. To discuss those runners and Starlight's philosophies when it comes to trying to acquire Derby candidates Wolf was the Green Group Guest of the Week on this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland.

As was the case last year, the Starlight horses have been transferred to trainer Tim Yakteen, who is taking over for Bob Baffert. Baffert, due to a ban imposed by Churchill Downs, is not eligible to run horses in this year's Derby.

“We sort of went down this road last year and it seems to be working,” Wolf said. “The transfer seems to be working a lot more smoothly than last year. Last year, Bob was also serving a suspension (from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission). We're fortunate to have Bob working with us and trying to continue on to have these particular horses be eligible for the Derby points. Bob, (SF Racing Managing Partner) Tom Ryan and Tim have done a great job working together to try pull this off up to this point.”

Among the four Starlight horses that will be running in Derby preps this weekend, Wolf wasn't shy about listing who he believes is the best. It's San Felipe starter National Treasure (Quality Road), who is coming off a third-place finish in the GIII Sham S.

“I got on him as a Derby horse a couple of months before the end of the year,” Wolf said. “I just like how things are setting up for him, hopefully, for the next three races. I just really like the horse. He's not peaking too soon. Bob Baffert always says you get Derby Fever in January and February. But you don't know what you have until April comes around. So even though this horse may have a little case of second-itis, I think from a pedigree standpoint and the way he's been set up for the San Felipe he's our best hope. That's who I have my money on.”

Starlight, SF Racing and Madaket were among the first major owners to pool their resources at the sales, which mas become a growing trend in the sport. That means more competition for the trio when it comes to acquiring expensive horses, but Wolf said he believes his team can outperform their rivals.

“We've got better bloodstock agents and better operation than the other ones,” he said. “But, yes, they're buying a lot of stock. Mike (Repole) and Vinnie (Viola) put a little bit more money into it than we do. Maybe we put a little bit more money into it than the group Brad Cox has assembled. I like those guys. It's fun to compete with them and have at it.”

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by Coolmore, Lane's End, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, XBTV, and West Point Thoroughbreds, Randy Moss, Zoe Cadman and Bill Finley took a look back at the win by Confidence Game (Candy Ride {Arg}) in the GII Rebel S. and trainer Keith Desormeaux's knack for developing modestly priced sales horses into stars and a looked ahead to this week's major races, including the GII Fountain of Youth S., the GII San Felipe S. and the GI Santa Anita H. In other news, the team discussed the reinstatement of controversial trainer Rick Dutrow and a TDN column by Sid Fernando that reasons that SGF-1000, the drug Jason Servis has admitted to using on his horses, is not a performance-enhancing drug.

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Taking Stock: Is SGF-1000 a PED?

[Editor's note: Gary and Mary West are clients of Werk Thoroughbred Consultants, of which Sid Fernando is president and CEO. WTC recommended the 2014 purchase of Maximum Security's dam, Lil Indy, for $80,000 at Keeneland January for the purpose of breeding her to New Year's Day, a stallion owned by the Wests at that time and the sire of Maximum Security.]

“Just the facts, ma'am.”

The iconic line “just the facts, ma'am” is associated with the character of Sgt. Joe Friday from the 1950s cop show “Dragnet” starring actor Jack Webb in the title role of an LAPD detective. You may be too young to remember the series, but it's likely you're aware of the phrase, because it's become a part of the lexicon. That's what happens when things get repeated over and over again.

Three years ago, when the government indicted and arrested 27 individuals (it went up to 31) in what it called a wide-ranging “doping” scheme, most of us heard about the “drug” SGF-1000 for the first time. Since then, we've heard of it over and over again. This substance was specifically associated with two high-profile trainers, Jorge Navarro and Jason Servis, who'd been under investigation and were caught on tape admitting to each other that they'd used it on most of their stock.

Servis trained Maximum Security (New Year's Day), a Gary and Mary West homebred who finished first in the $20 million Saudi Cup three years ago with Coolmore as a partner. Maximum Security has yet to be declared the winner, because the following month the government issued the indictments that named the colt as the most famous recipient of SGF-1000. After this, the Saudi regulator paused purse distribution from the race, pending the outcome of its own investigation of the government's case.

In the indictment and subsequent filings, the government referred to SGF-1000 as a “customized PED,” and that label as a performance-enhancing drug has stuck. Press coverage has repeatedly referred to it as a PED and “dope.” At this stage, “dope” and “SGF-1000” are as synonymous as “dope” and Epogen, or “dope” and customized analgesics, or “dope” and “red acid,” some of the other PEDs mentioned in the indictment.

Three months ago, in early December, Servis pled guilty to two charges: a felony count of misbranding and adulterating a generic version of unprescribed clenbuterol, and a misdemeanor count of misbranding and adulterating related to SGF-1000 use. Servis admitted to judge Mary Kay Vyskocil that Maximum Security, while under his care, had been administered SGF-1000 by a veterinarian. Because SGF-1000 is the only substance that the government has said was administered to Maximum Security, its use and chemical makeup are of importance to the Saudis as they close in on a decision.

Widespread Use

It's important to understand that the government's case wasn't about “dope” per se; there are no federal laws about the doping of racehorses. Instead, the government relied on felony counts related to the misbranding and adulteration of substances used in interstate commerce under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to indict and convict these individuals.

In almost all of these cases, however, the misbranded and adulterated substances were bona-fide PEDs, and the government could rightfully say that it had stopped several doping schemes. However, in the specific matter of SGF-1000, it appears the government was aware the substance wasn't a PED since at least September of 2019.

During the course of the last three years, I've read more than a thousand pages of court filings and spoken to several trainers who've admitted off the record to using SGF-1000 on some of their horses. None of them thought he was “doping” horses or doing anything illegal. Some are big names in the business, others smaller trainers.

One told me he had three horses shipped to him in Florida from a facility in New York with three bottles of SGF-1000 for his vet to administer. “Their vet prescribed it. I don't know if it helped,” this trainer said. “It was hard to tell, but the show horse people in Wellington seemed to feel it helped horses recover from work. I was told it was popular with them.”

I asked him if he'd speak on the record. “No, I'd get crucified in this environment we're in now with the Feds and drugs and HISA,” he said. “But SGF-1000 has been around for a while.”

As far back as 2014, Medivet, the company that sold SGF-1000, was openly advertising the product in print trades, radio racing shows, and online, and a rep for the company posted this on Facebook on Nov. 24, 2014: “To all my Facebook friends who are involved with horses: I want to share with you two great products that are drug free and chemical free that will maximize the health and wellness of your performance horse.” This was an overture to the dressage and eventing crowd in Wellington. One of the products he described was SGF-1000, of which he said, “USEF [US Equestrian Federation] approved for competition.” I don't know if this was true or not about USEF, but Medivet and its reps were openly hawking the substance in broad daylight, not peddling it conspiratorially under the cover of darkness.

“There was nothing nefarious about it,” said another, bigger New York-based trainer, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity and admitted that a multiple Grade l winner of his now at stud in Kentucky was once on it. “Dr. [Kristian] Rhein–he had a big practice in New York–dispensed it as something that was great for recovery and wellbeing. He was a good vet, especially on soundness. He'd trot a horse up and back and tell you right away where a problem was. I didn't think anything of it, and I think it did help my horse recover after works or races. A vet always prescribed and administered it. You know, Dr. Rhein had a lot of clients, and everyone knew everyone else was using it until they put it out on that overnight in September that no one was permitted to use it. When that came out, I got scared, and I never used it again after that. No one told us it was illegal before.”

In September of 2019, NYRA, at the direction of the New York Gaming Commission, put a note on the bottom of its daily overnights saying the use of SGF-1000 was prohibited. Perhaps the FBI alerted the commission and NYRA that SGF-1000 use on its grounds was widespread. By this time, the FBI already had Dr. Rhein, one of the co-owners of Medivet, boasting on tape that he'd sold “assloads” of the substance, and we've subsequently learned from court filings that Medivet was making “millions” from the sale of it. All of this makes it obvious that SGF-1000 was being used by more than just Navarro and Servis.

On Aug. 3, 2021, Dr. Rhein pled guilty in federal court to a felony charge of drug misbranding and adulteration. The government has a list of Dr. Rhein's clients who purchased and used SGF-1000 and is aware that some of these trainers had horses for well-known owners, some of whom belong to elite industry organizations. From court filings, the government also is aware of the labs that made the SGF-1000 – “unregistered facilities,” according to the Department of Justice, in California and Australia. These labs shipped SGF-1000 to Medivet's facility in Kentucky for packaging. The government's case that SGF-1000 was misbranded is convincing.

Just the Facts, Ma'am

As far as SGF-1000 is concerned, however, it appears that government prosecutors, who repeatedly called it a PED in court filings and press releases, may not have been correct. In a court filing that noted an FBI application to search emails of one of the owners of Medivet, an FBI agent wrote this in part about SGF-1000: “I have further learned that the Hong Kong Lab did not detect the presence of any growth factors or growth hormones in the sample that was analyzed, but did detect the presence of sheep amino acids.”

A person with direct knowledge who is not authorized to comment on the matter told me FBI investigators don't believe SGF-1000 was a PED, unlike other substances that were named in the indictments.

According to court filings, New Jersey regulators and a confidential source working with the FBI took blood samples from Maximum Security after he was administered SGF-1000 in early June of 2019. The confidential source dispatched the samples to the Hong Kong Jockey Club lab, and the testing came back negative for PEDs. During this time frame the HKJC responded with this email note – obtained from court filings – to the confidential source: “We had analysed (sic) the content of the SGF 1000 from Medivet some years ago. It is listed to contain a combination of growth factors, peptides, proteins, and signal molecules obtained from ovine placental extract. No detectable amount of growth factors was found but collagens common to ovine or bovine origin were detected.”

SGF-1000 originated in Australia and since 2014 has been tested by a number of other reputable organizations with no relationship to Medivet, including the Racing Medication & Testing Consortium (RMTC), Australian authorities in 2015, and UC Davis Maddy Laboratory, and not once in these tests has it been positive as a PED, according to court filings. Each time, however, it tested for sheep collagen, which is widely used in the manufacture of facial creams and other human skin-care products.

Government Test

According to court filings, government agents had obtained a bottle of SGF-1000 by July of 2019 and “sent the substance to a laboratory in Hong Kong for testing to determine the precise chemical contents of that substance.”

The thinking here seemed to be that SGF-1000 didn't test in Maximum Security's blood, but it would from the actual sample straight out of the bottle.

The results of that test have never been publicly revealed. If SGF-1000 did contain PEDs, wouldn't the government have publicized it? If it didn't test positive, the government wouldn't be under any obligation to share the results, because the charges of misbranding and adulterating have nothing to do with whether a substance is a PED or not.

Tellingly, after Servis pled guilty to the misbranding charge for SGF-1000, the DOJ press release did not use the words “performance-enhancing drug” or “PED” in reference to SGF-1000 – an about-face from before; instead, the government noted that Servis was guilty of having SGF-1000 administered to horses after NY regulators said the substance was illegal to use in Sept. of 2019. The federal misdemeanor charge was essentially for a state regulatory violation.

The government had a chance to reveal the results of its 2019 test but never did.

The government had access to the “unregistered” labs that manufactured SGF-1000 and could have readily exposed the ingredients that went into the formulation of the substance, but it never did.

Based on the standing facts, SGF-1000 was a misbranded substance, but it was not a PED.

And by the way, the exact line “Just the facts, ma'am” was never uttered by Sgt. Joe Friday, either. It's an urban legend. That's what happens when something gets repeated over and over again.

Sid Fernando is president and CEO of Werk Thoroughbred Consultants, Inc., originator of the Werk Nick Rating and eNicks.

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Servis Pleads Guilty to Two Counts; One Felony, One Misdemeanor

Jason Servis, for years one of the top Thoroughbred trainers in the country, pleaded guilty in a New York courtroom Dec. 9 to resolve charges arising from the government's sweeping investigation into horse doping at racetracks across the country.

Servis, 65, faces four years in prison when he is sentenced May 18, 2023, in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. Servis was one of 31 defendants in the case, which garnered national headlines when prosecutors announced indictments nearly three years ago and cast a black eye on the racing industry.

They had been charged with doping horses with various performance-enhancing drugs that were undetectable by racing regulators. Prosecutors said the use of PEDs by greedy trainers corrupted the sport, cheated the betting public, and endangered horses who were asked to perform beyond their natural capabilities.

Servis was the last defendant facing charges.

He pleaded guilty in connection with his role in the distribution of adulterated and misbranded drugs intended for administration on racehorses he trained.

“Servis' conduct represents corruption at the highest levels of the racehorse industry,” Damian Williams, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a release. “As a licensed racehorse trainer, Servis was bound to protect the horses under his care and to comply with racing rules designed to ensure the safety and well-being of horses and protect the integrity of the sport.”

Williams added: “Servis abdicated his responsibilities to the animals, to regulators, and to the public. This latest conviction demonstrates the commitment of this Office and of our partners at the FBI to the prosecution and investigation of corruption, fraud, deceit, and endangerment in the racehorse industry.”

“Guilty,” Servis said, as he admitted to a new felony charge of misbranding and adulterating a chemical substance described by prosecutors as similar to the bronchodilator clenbuterol but stronger.

“Guilty,” he said, admitting to another new charge, a misdemeanor, of misbranding and adulterating a compound chemical called SGF-1000.

Servis had been scheduled to go on trial next month on two counts–conspiracy to misbrand and adulterate performance-enhancing drugs and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. He would have faced 25 years in prison on those two counts if convicted.

As part of the plea deal, prosecutors agreed to dismiss those charges and bring new ones.

Also, as part of the plea deal, Servis agreed to forfeit $311,760 and to pay restitution in the amount of $163,932.

Servis showed up in court in a sports jacket and tie. Racing authorities suspended his trainer's license after his arrest in March 2020.

At the time of his arrest, prosecutors accused Servis of administering adulterated and misbranded PEDs, including SGF-1000, to “virtually all of the racehorses under his control.”

Those horses included Maximum Security, who finished first in the 2019 GI Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve but was disqualified for interference during the running of the race.

Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil brought up Maximum Security's name during a portion of the proceeding that required Servis to admit his guilt by allocuting to the charges.

At that point, Servis attorney Rita Glavin interjected to say that, yes, her client would admit that Maximum Security had been administered SGF-1000 by a veterinarian for his barn.

Glavin also objected when Vyskocil asked Servis if he was challenging the fact that Maximum Security finished first in the overseas $20-million Saudi Cup in the Middle East in February 2020, a month before his arrest.

After a brief back and forth, Servis conceded that fact.

He also told Vyskocil that he would not challenge other statements to other facts in the plea agreement.

For instance, he conceded that he continued using SGF-1000 after New York regulators put out an advisory in September 2019 saying that SGF-1000 was a prohibited substance.

He also conceded that SGF-1000 cost $300 a bottle and that vet bills sent to owners disguised the use of SGF-1000 on his horses as “acupuncture and chiropractic.”

In the case of the clenbuterol-like substance, Servis admitted that on May 8, 2019, he shipped it from his barn at Monmouth to Belmont and hid it in a soda bottle concealed in a bucket of poultice, an herbal anti-inflammatory paste.

In court papers, Glavin argued that Servis was not guilty of the charges against him because prosecutors lacked evidence that SGF-1000 was performance-enhancing or contained growth factors. These considerations would make it a PED.

She also argued that none of Servis' horses ever tested positive for clenbuterol misuse.

On Friday, Glavin told Vyskocil that she planned to argue before the sentencing that Servis had been repeatedly told by his vet that SGF-1000 was legal to use.

The plea agreement states that Servis's vet repeatedly assured the trainer that SGF-1000 was “legal and not violative of racing rules as reflected in intercepted calls in June and August of 2019.”

Prosecutors argued in court papers that those who marketed SGF-1000 didn't understand what it was other than that it was undetectable in tests conducted by racing regulators.

They also contend that SGF-1000 does contain growth factors of a variety that were intentionally difficult to detect.

Williams said Servis ordered hundreds of bottles of the drug “SGF-1000,” which was compounded and manufactured in unregistered facilities.

He said Servis obtained the misbranded version of clenbuterol from convicted co-defendant New Jersey trainer Jorge Navarro. He is serving a 5-year prison sentence after pleading guilty a year ago.

With Servis' plea, 23 of the 31 individuals charged have pleaded guilty. Two were convicted after trial, and two were offered deferred prosecution agreements.

The defendants included 11 Thoroughbred and Standardbred trainers and seven veterinarians.

Pool coverage is being provided to the major Thoroughbred racing news outlets by pool reporter Robert Gearty.

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