Tag: The Biz

Maryland Commission Tosses Out Year-Old Bute Overages Due To Laboratory’s Loss Of Accreditation

On Feb. 1, nearly a year after the races were run, the Maryland Racing Commission ruled that John Salzman trainees Big Hambone (second at Laurel on Feb. 12, 2021) and Sick Pack Sara (winner at Laurel on March 13, 2021) would be allowed to retain their original placings despite testing positive for phenylbutazone, reports The Racing Biz.

The commission's reasoning? At the time each of the horses' samples were tested by Truesdail Laboratory, the lab had lost its accredited testing lab status for horse racing. The commission has since switched its testing to Industrial Laboratories.

“Through the testimony, it is determined that Truesdail Laboratory, at the time of this testing, was not appropriately or properly accredited,” Commission chairman Michael Algeo said. “Given that, it is the unanimous decision of this Commission that we cannot rely upon the test results that were provided by the Truesdail Laboratory since they were, in fact, not accredited.”

In Maryland, the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory commonly known as “bute” is permitted on race day at “not more than 0.3 micrograms per milliliter of the blood plasma.” Big Hambone's test showed a level of .399, while Sick Pack Sara's was .513 mcg per milliliter. Salzman contended that the two horses had been treated by his veterinarian between 48 and 55 hours prior to the race, which was his standard practice that had not previously yielded positive tests.

According to thoroughbredrulings.com, Salzman's record includes previous positive tests for clenbuterol (Maryland, 3/20/2010), dexamethasone (West Virginia, 10/7/2017; Maryland, 2/22/2019; Maryland, 6/23/2019; and Maryland, 6/5/2021), and phenylbutazone (Maryland, 7/31/2020).

Read more at The Racing Biz.

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A Look At Seth Fishman’s Client Lists

The Paulick Report, along with other industry publications, has acquired copies of two documents presented during the recently-concluded trial of former veterinarian Dr. Seth Fishman which prosecutors say contain lists of clients from Fishman's Equestology business.

Fishman was convicted this week of two counts of conspiring to violate adulteration and misbranding laws and the manufacture of performance-enhancing drugs intended for use in racehorses.

The documents list clients by last name. One is limited to those with New York addresses. (Fishman's trial was held in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.) The other is alphabetized by last name and includes zip codes from a variety of states and a few Canadian postal codes. Street addresses and cities have been redacted, with zip code and state data remaining.

The list includes a number of people who were also indicted in March 2020 for their roles in what prosecutors say was a widespread network of drug suppliers, distributors and end users using adulterated and misbranded products to dope Thoroughbred and Standardbred racehorses. Thomas Guido/Guido Stable, Ross Cohen, Carl Garofalo, Tony Poliseno, Rene Allard, and Richard Banca are all on the list.

Garofalo entered a guilty plea in June 2021 to one count of adulteration and misbranding and was ordered to forfeit $6.7 million. He has yet to be sentenced. The other defendants have pleaded not guilty.

A number of harness trainers and stable names appear on the list, as do the names of several veterinarians, and a few Thoroughbred racing connections.

Jeff Gural, owner of the Meadowlands, indicated to the Paulick Report he is making inquiries with each harness trainer on the list to find out what specifically they were purchasing from Fishman and when.

“Everyone told me I was wasting my time and money trying to clean [racing] up so I just assume everyone thought it was business as usual and there was no risk,” Gural wrote in an email. “Obviously, they were wrong.”

The dates on the lists indicate they were pulled in February 2020, but it's not clear whether they are limited to client accounts that were active or contained historical data. The lists also do not indicate what the clients were purchasing or whether they were the end users of the products. While prosecutors say Fishman was not actively practicing veterinary medicine, he was licensed as a vet and could have provided legitimate, legal treatments in addition to or instead of the illegal products he was found guilty of making and distributing.

See the general list here.

See the New York-specific list here.

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Total Wagering Dips Slightly In January; Purses Show Renewed Strength To Begin 2022

Equibase, North American racing's official database, released Friday its January statistics for the industry's economic indicators, including field size, wagering, and other data, along with 2019 and 2020 comparables. The 2019 data is included as a pre-COVID-19 comparison.

Equibase is continuing to provide monthly reporting of its Economic Indicators Advisories as a service to the industry and in consideration of the economic changes resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Advisory is typically disseminated on a quarterly basis to provide key metrics used to measure racing's performance throughout the year.

Total wagering on U.S. races saw a slight decline in January, dropping 1.82 percent from the first month of 2021 to the first month of 2022. With the 1.57 percent increase in race days, average wagering per race day also declined by 3.34 percent.

Compared to the first months of 2020 and 2019, however, total wagering was up 7.65 percent and 19.98 percent, respectively.

U.S. purses showed renewed strength to begin 2022, up by 15.48 percent compared to the same period last year, rising above $82 million. That figure is up by 13.85 percent since 2020, and by 4.71 percent since 2019.

Field size is down by 4.12 percent over last year, and by more than two percent compared to 2020 and 2019.

January 2022 vs. January 2021
Indicator January 2022 January 2021 % Change
Wagering on U.S. Races* $942,654,762 $960,160,298 -1.82%
U.S. Purses $82,103,062 $71,098,677 +15.48%
U.S. Race Days 259 255 +1.57%
U.S. Races 2,186 2,211 -1.13%
U.S. Starts 16,949 17,879 -5.20%
Average Field Size 7.75 8.09 -4.12%
Average Wagering Per Race Day $3,639,594 $3,765,335 -3.34%
Average Purses Per Race Day $317,000 $278,818 +13.69%

2020 Comparison:

January 2022 vs. January 2020
Indicator January 2022 January 2020 % Change
Wagering on U.S. Races* $942,654,762 $875,647,020 +7.65%
U.S. Purses $82,103,062 $72,116,730 +13.85%
U.S. Race Days 259 283 -8.48%
U.S. Races 2,186 2,352 -7.06%
U.S. Starts 16,949 18,692 -9.32%
Average Field Size 7.75 7.95 -2.44%
Average Wagering Per Race Day $3,639,594 $3,094,159 +17.63%
Average Purses Per Race Day $317,000 $254,829 +24.40%

2019 Comparison:

January 2022 vs. January 2019
Indicator January 2022 January 2019 % Change
Wagering on U.S. Races* $942,654,762 $785,689,337 +19.98%
U.S. Purses $82,103,062 $78,410,368 +4.71%
U.S. Race Days 259 265 -2.26%
U.S. Races 2,186 2,278 -4.04%
U.S. Starts 16,949 18,137 -6.55%
Average Field Size 7.75 7.96 -2.62%
Average Wagering Per Race Day $3,639,594 $2,964,865 +22.76%
Average Purses Per Race Day $317,000 $295,888 +7.14%

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NYRA Releases $16.95 Million Stakes Schedule For Belmont Spring/Summer Meet

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) today announced the stakes schedule for the 44-day Belmont Park spring/summer meet, which will feature 59 stakes races worth $16.95 million in total purses. The spring/summer meet will open on Thursday, April 28 and continue through Sunday, July 10.
The Belmont spring/summer meet will offer 12 Grade 1 contests and seven races with purses of $700,000 or higher, with four of those contests coming during the three-day Belmont Stakes Racing Festival from Thursday, June 9 through Saturday, June 11. The festival will encompass 17 total stakes, including eight Grade 1s on Belmont Stakes Day, capped by the $1.5 million “Test of the Champion” for 3-year-olds in the 1 1/2-mile final leg of the Triple Crown.
Tickets for the 2022 Belmont Stakes Racing Festival will go on sale Thursday, February 10 at 10 a.m. Eastern via Ticketmaster.com.
In addition to the 154th running of the Belmont Stakes on June 11, that day's card will include three Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In” qualifiers: the one-mile Grade 1, $1 million Metropolitan Handicap for 3-year-olds and up [Dirt Mile]; the Grade 1, $500,000 Ogden Phipps for older fillies and mares 4-years-old and up going 1 1/16 miles on the main track [Distaff]; and the Grade 1, $400,000 Jaipur for 3-year-olds and up going six furlongs on turf [Turf Sprint].
The blockbuster Belmont Stakes Day card will also feature the Grade 1, $750,000 Manhattan for 4-year-olds and up going 1 1/4 miles on turf; the Grade 1, $500,000 Acorn for 3-year-old fillies going one mile; the Grade 1, $500,000 Longines Just a Game for fillies and mares 4-years-old and up at one mile on the turf; the Grade 1, $400,000 Woody Stephens in a seven-furlong sprint over Big Sandy for 3-year-olds; and the Grade 2, $400,000 Brooklyn, a 1 1/2-mile test for 4-year-olds and up.
The Belmont Stakes Racing Festival opens with three stakes races on Thursday, June 9, including the Grade 2, $200,000 Wonder Again, a nine-furlong turf test for 3-year-old fillies offering an automatic invite to the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks Invitational to the top-three finishers. Rounding out the June 9 card are a pair of $150,000 sprints for 2-year-olds at 5 1/2-furlongs on the main track led by the Astoria for fillies and the Tremont.
On June 10, the Grade 1, $750,000 New York, a 10-furlong turf test for older fillies and mares will headline a day featuring five graded stakes. Also featured on the June 10 card are the Grade 2, $400,000 Belmont Gold Cup, the Grade 2, $300,000 True North; the Grade 2, $300,000 Bed o' Roses; and the Grade 3, $200,000 Intercontinental, which has been shortened to six furlongs on turf.
The Stars and Stripes Racing Festival returns on Saturday, July 9 and features four graded stakes headlined by the opening legs of the Caesars Turf Triple Series. Launched by NYRA in 2019, the Turf Triple returns with a pair of 1 1/4-mile turf races offering Grade 1 status, featuring the Grade 1, $1 million Caesars Belmont Derby Invitational for sophomores and the Grade 1, $700,000 Belmont Oaks Invitational for 3-year-old fillies.
Implemented by NYRA as the turf equivalent of the Triple Crown series, with all the legs contested at Belmont Park and Saratoga Race Course, the Caesars Belmont Derby Invitational will again launch the male division of the Turf Triple series that encompasses the Grade 1 Caesars Saratoga Derby this summer and the Grade 3 Caesars Jockey Club Derby during the Belmont fall meet.
The Belmont Oaks Invitational commences the female division of the Turf Triple series, which will be followed by the Grade 3 Saratoga Oaks this summer and conclude with the Grade 3 Jockey Club Oaks during the fall.
Also featuring on the Stars and Stripes card is the Grade 2, $400,000 Suburban, a 10-furlong test for older horses; and the Grade 3, $150,000 Victory Ride, a 6 1/2-furlong sprint for sophomore fillies.
Man o' War Day on May 14 boasts five graded stakes led by the Grade 1, $700,000 Man o' War at 1 3/8-miles on the turf for 4-year-olds and upward and bolstered by the nine-furlong Grade 3, $200,000 Peter Pan, the local prep for the Belmont Stakes; the Grade 3, $150,000 Beaugay, the Grade 3, $150,000 Vagrancy, and the Grade 3, $150,000 Runhappy.
Independence Day weekend from Saturday July 2 through Monday, July 4 offers five stakes races. The holiday weekend kicks off July 2 with the Grade 2, $250,000 John A. Nerud, which will see 4-year-olds and up contest at seven furlongs. Also featured on the card is the Grade 3 $250,000 Dwyer. The holiday weekend stakes action continues Sunday, July 3 with the $100,000 Perfect Sting and on Monday, July 4 with the $100,000 Manila and the $150,000 Grand Couturier.
The spotlight will shine on New York-breds on Monday, May 30, as part of Big Apple Showcase Day. The lucrative Memorial Day card features six stakes for horses bred in the Empire State led by the $200,000 Commentator at one mile for 3-year-olds and up and the $200,000 Critical Eye at the same distance for fillies and mares, 3-years-old and upward. A quartet of $125,000 stakes will round out the day, including the Kingston, Mount Vernon, Mike Lee and Bouwerie.
Friday, April 29 will kick off the meet's stakes action with the $100,000 Affirmed Success, a six-furlong sprint for New York-breds 4-years-old and up. The graded stakes action begins on Saturday, May 7 with the Grade 2, $200,000 Sheepshead Bay, the Grade 3, $200,000 Westchester and the Grade 2, $200,000 Fort Marcy.
Closing Day on Sunday, July 10 will drop the curtain down on the meet with the $150,000 River Memories and the $100,000 Saginaw before the racing action moves to Saratoga for its 40-day meet beginning Thursday, July 14.
Follow this link for the full 2022 Belmont Park spring/summer stakes schedule.

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