Tag: The Biz

All American Futurity Favorite Was Scratched For Nebulizer Treatment On Race Day

Owner-trainer Carl Moore's Jes An Angel, who recorded the fastest time trial and was the morning line favorite for the $3 million All American Futurity at Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico on Sept. 5, was scratched from Quarter Horse racing's marquee event by order of the stewards on the morning of the race after she was observed allegedly being treated with a nebulizer.

Izzy Trejo, executive director of the New Mexico Racing Commission, said the state's administrative code prohibits race day use of a “nebulizer or similar device used to administer a drug or other substance.”

Read more about nebulizers here

Trejo said the treatment was observed by an enforcement team from the American Quarter Horse Association on hand for the All American. “We had the luxury of having boots on the ground, which is necessary for this kind of thing to be found,” Trejo said. “They were making their rounds around seven in the morning when they came upon the horse.”

Moore purchased Jes An Angel for $10,000 at the 2021 Heritage Place September Yearling Sale in Oklahoma and paid $50,000 to supplement the daughter of Jess Zoomin to the All American Futurity. Jes An Angel had won five of seven starts, including her Aug. 19 All American trial in which she ran the 440 yards on a sloppy track in 21.257 seconds. Scheduled to break from the number eight post position, Jes An Angel had been installed the 5-2 morning line favorite in the finals.

A Facebook post purported to be from Moore said “politics kept us from running.” Moore said he had purchased a nebulizer and saline solution from a veterinarian at the track and “we had been administering it for over a month every day. We administered it the morning of the race which they say is not allowed the morning of the race however when you read the rule this is not clear. We take full responsibility in  using the saline solution on race day but they pounced on it giving them the opportunity they had been waiting on to keep her from running the race.”

Trejo said the rule is clear.

“We expect people to understand what the rules are,” Trejo said, “especially when you are running for $3 million.”

Trejo said a hearing would be scheduled on the matter.

Moore said he will point Jes An Angel to the Dash for Cash Futurity Trials on Sept. 16 at Lone Star Park.

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‘I Wish I Had Never Met Fishman’: Giannelli Gets 3 1/2-Year Prison Sentence In Federal Doping Probe

Lisa Giannelli was sentenced Sept 8 to 3 1/2 years in prison as part of the federal government's sweeping investigation into horse doping at racetracks across the country.

Giannelli, 56, was found guilty of peddling illegal performance-enhancing drugs to trainers to dope horses and faced a maximum of five years in prison. Her lawyers appealed for a no-jail sentence of probation.

“This was not a one-time thing,” Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil said in U.S. District Court in New York. “For 18 years, Ms. Giannelli marketed and sold what she knew were illegal and powerful performance-enhancing drugs.”

Vyskocil said that with its verdict the jury had rejected Giannelli's argument that she didn't know that what she was doing was illegal when she worked for Equestology, a Florida company owned by veterinarian Seth Fishman.

Giannelli, of Dalton, Del., was also sentenced to two years of supervised release after she gets out of prison. She was also ordered to pay a fine of $100,000 and to forfeit $900,000.

The government's investigation into the illegal use of PEDs to dope horses led to charges against 31 individuals. Since the charges were announced 30 months ago, Giannelli and Fishman have been convicted by juries, and 22 others have pleaded guilty. Fishman was sentenced in July to an 11-year prison sentence.

Those who have pleaded guilty include trainer Jorge Navarro. He was sentenced to five years in prison.

Trainer Jason Servis was also charged and is awaiting a trial scheduled to begin in New York in January.

Prosecutors said Fishman had designed PEDs to increase a horse's performance and endurance by building red blood cells and masking pain. The substances were designed to avoid showing up in post-race tests conducted by racing regulators.

At the sentencing, prosecutor Sarah Mortazavi said Giannelli's actions on behalf of Fishman's company warranted the maximum sentence.

“Her criminal conduct touched hundreds of trainers and led to the doping of thousands of horses,” she said.

Mortazavi said Giannelli has yet to really accept responsibility for her actions and that it was only after the jury's verdict that Giannelli offered a “mealy-mouthed explanation for her conduct.”

Giannelli came to court with 13 supporters. Among them was a man she married while under indictment and his mother.

Lisa Giannelli at the time of her arrest

“It was never my intention to break the law,” Giannelli said.

She said that her arrest and conviction have left her life shattered.

“It was never my intention to hurt anyone or to hurt any animal,” Giannelli said. “Everything in my world now is upside down.”

“At this point I wish I had never met Fishman,” she said.

“I thought I was doing good,” she added. “I never knew it was not legal.”

Defense lawyers pleaded for a sentence of probation in court papers that detailed Giannelli's troubled upbringing and her abusive relationships with men. She said she obtained a license to train horses at harness tracks. She said she met Fishman in 2004 and became his sales representative.

Lawyer Alex Huot said Giannelli was not doing anything she wasn't instructed to do by the doctor.

“She took Dr. Fishman at his word,” Huot said.

But Vyskocil told Giannelli she should have known better because the conduct she engaged in occurred when she was an adult.

The judge said Equestology's PEDs were powerful substances that she believed could have and did kill horses.

Vyskocil said that in fashioning the sentence she  took into account Giannelli's background, her character, and more than 50 letters from Giannelli's family and friends.

“The letters all reflect that you are a kind person, and have a passion to make things better,” the judge said.

At the end, she told Giannelli that she was sorry for her, for the situation that brought her to court.

“I do believe you are a good person,” the judge said. “You have your whole life ahead of you.”

The Thoroughbred industry's leading publications are working together to cover this key trial.

The post ‘I Wish I Had Never Met Fishman’: Giannelli Gets 3 1/2-Year Prison Sentence In Federal Doping Probe appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Churchill Downs Inc., FanDuel Announce Multi-Year Content Agreement

Churchill Downs Incorporated (“CDI”) (Nasdaq: CHDN) announced Thursday a multi-year agreement (the “Agreement”) with FanDuel Group (“FanDuel”) involving multiple facets of FanDuel's sports wagering, advance deposit wagering (“ADW”) and television businesses.

Under the Agreement, CDI will provide certain technology and services to enable FanDuel's customers to place pari-mutuel wagers on horse racing via FanDuel's sports wagering and ADW platforms. CDI will also authorize wagering on CDI's owned or controlled horse racing content via FanDuel's platforms in the United States and grant FanDuel certain television and media rights to broadcast CDI-owned racing content on FanDuel's television network(s). In addition, the Agreement provides FanDuel non-exclusive Kentucky Derby sponsorship rights within the sports wagering category.

Beginning in January 2023, FanDuel will pay for CDI technology and services provided by United Tote Company (“United Tote”) to facilitate pari-mutuel wagering on FanDuel's platforms in the United States, including FanDuel Sportsbook and TVG. As previously announced, CDI has entered into an agreement to sell 49 percent of United Tote to New York Racing Association, Inc. in a transaction that is expected to close by the end of 2022.

CDI will provide FanDuel wagering rights to horse racing content owned or controlled by CDI, including the Kentucky Derby, and will receive customary content fees when FanDuel accepts wagers on CDI-owned content. FanDuel will also receive exclusive television rights to the racing content of all CDI thoroughbred racetracks, including Churchill Downs Racetrack, once its existing non-Derby media rights deal expires in 2023. The Agreement excludes certain specified racing content, including Kentucky Derby Week.

As part of the Agreement, FanDuel will also receive a non-exclusive sponsorship of the Kentucky Derby in the sports wagering category beginning in 2023 in exchange for an annual sponsorship fee.

“With the launch of FanDuel TV last week and the upcoming integration of premier racing content into our market-leading sports book, we believe this is an inflection point in our ability to offer our customers a seamless wagering experience with a single wallet,” said Amy Howe, CEO of FanDuel. “We are especially pleased that we will be able to offer wagering on the most exciting two minutes in sports, the Kentucky Derby, and that we will have exclusive broadcast rights to the Churchill Downs Incorporated family of tracks on FanDuel TV. We look forward to creating new audiences for horse racing.”

“We look forward to working with FanDuel to deliver premium horse racing content to their expansive base of sports wagering customers,” said Bill Carstanjen, CEO of CDI. “We are confident that FanDuel's market approach teamed with our expertise and technology will seamlessly deliver horse racing content and pari-mutuel wagering solutions to a significant number of new fans.”

About Churchill Downs Incorporated

Churchill Downs Incorporated is an industry-leading racing, online wagering and gaming entertainment company anchored by our iconic flagship event, the Kentucky Derby. We own and operate four gaming entertainment venues with approximately 3,900 historical racing machines in Kentucky. We also own and operate TwinSpires, one of the largest and most profitable online wagering platforms for horse racing in the U.S. and we have eight retail sportsbooks. We are a leader in brick-and-mortar casino gaming in eight states with approximately 11,800 slot machines and video lottery terminals and 250 table games. www.churchilldownsincorporated.com

About FanDuel Group
FanDuel Group is an innovative sports-tech entertainment company that is changing the way consumers engage with their favorite sports, teams, and leagues. The premier gaming destination in the United States, FanDuel Group consists of a portfolio of leading brands across gaming, sports betting, daily fantasy sports, advance-deposit wagering, and TV/media. FanDuel Group has a presence across all 50 states with approximately 17 million customers and nearly 30 retail locations. The company is based in New York with offices in California, New Jersey, Florida, Oregon, Georgia, Portugal, Romania and Scotland. It's network FanDuel TV and FanDuel+ are broadly distributed on linear cable television and through its relationships with leading direct-to-consumer OTT platforms. FanDuel Group is a subsidiary of Flutter Entertainment plc, the world's largest sports betting and gaming operator with a portfolio of globally recognized brands and a constituent of the FTSE 100 index of the London Stock Exchange.

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InCompass Launches EquiTAPS To Satisfy HISA Requirements For Equine Treatment, Procedure Records

InCompass Solutions announced Thursday the launch of EquiTAPS, a free service that enables users to submit veterinary treatment and procedure records to racing authorities for horses in their care and to give authorized parties in other jurisdictions access to those records.

EquiTAPS satisfies reporting requirements as set forth by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) and will accept records submitted by covered persons as defined by HISA, including trainers and veterinarians. When required by HISA's regulations, treatment and procedure information entered into EquiTAPS will be automatically forwarded to HISA.

“We are excited to offer EquiTAPS, which will assist horsemen and veterinarians of all racing breeds to keep track of horses in their care while working in compliance with HISA, which has jurisdiction over Thoroughbreds,” said Chris Dobbins, senior vice president of InCompass. “We believe this service provides a bridge between horsemen, racetracks, and HISA for the welfare of the racehorse.”

Regulatory veterinarians and racing authorities who would like access to EquiTAPS should contact help@equitaps.com. Trainers and veterinarians are encouraged to create a free account. Individuals with a username and password through hisaus.org can use the same login information for EquiTAPS. If they do not already have an account with HISA, users should visit equitaps.com to set up an account with EquiTAPS for access under their racing jurisdiction.

InCompass Solutions Inc. is the industry's leading technology solutions and software provider for racetracks and simulcast facilities throughout North America. InCompass offers consulting to racing facilities to help them take advantage of statistical racing and customer data with a focus on the recommendations suggested by McKinsey & Company's analysis of the Thoroughbred industry.

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