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First Trial In Federal Drug Misbranding Case To Begin Jan. 19

The first trial in the well-publicized federal drug adulteration and misbranding case that focused on doping in horse racing will begin Jan. 19 in New York. Veterinarian Dr. Seth Fishman and Lisa Giannelli will be the first two defendants from the case announced in March 2020 to go to trial. A number of co-defendants, including high-profile former trainer Jorge Navarro, have entered guilty pleas and been sentenced for their role in making, distributing, or using adulterated or misbranded drugs on racehorses.

The remaining co-defendants have been broken down into three groups that will be tried together. Fishman and Giannelli are the first, while Dr. Rebecca Linke and Rick Dane Jr., are in the second, which could start in March. (Linke has already made a deal to defer prosecution.) No date has been set for the third trial grouping, which includes trainers Jason Servis and MIchael Tannuzzo, as well as Drs. Alexander Chan and Erica Garcia.

Fishman, who was trained as a veterinarian, has been accused of concocting performance-enhancing drug combinations he marketed to clients on the premise they would not test. Intercepted communications between Fishman and others revealed that he claimed he made different drug cocktails for each trainer who bought his products, so that if new drug tests detected one substance, his other clients would still be protected.

Giannelli worked for Fishman, though she disputes her role was more as a courier than a sales representative, as alleged by the prosecution.

A recent release of evidence against Fishman in court documents claims his products were implicated in a 2011 case of a horse who died after receiving an injection. It also raised questions about a connection between Fishman and his products and an official in the United Arab Emirates government connected with camels. Read more about that evidence in this story from Dec. 22, 2021.

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Trainer Danny Gargan Sanctioned For Labor Law Violations

A federal court has ordered a prominent Long Island, New York, Thoroughbred racing stable and its owner to pay a total of $132,631 in back wages and liquidated damages to 52 grooms and hot walkers at several locations, including Belmont and Aqueduct racetracks. The stable owner failed to pay workers the overtime wages they earned.

The action by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York follows an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division. Investigators found that Danny Gargan and Gargan Stables Corp. paid certain employees at the racetracks, stables and other locations a fee per horse handled and not per hour as stated in their payroll records.

In addition to shortchanging workers' hours and unlawfully denying them overtime when they worked more than 40 hours in a workweek, the division determined the employer falsified payroll records to give the appearance that employees were paid by the hour when they were not. The court affirmed the department's assessment of $37,368 in civil money penalties for willful wage theft and for falsifying records in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Following the division's investigation and litigation by the department's Office of the Solicitor, the court entered a consent judgment ordering the defendants to pay $66,315 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages to the affected workers.

The judgment also requires the defendants to:

– Hire, at their own expense, a qualified compliance monitor to review their payroll and record keeping practices to ensure FLSA compliance, recommend changes to any non-compliant practices and consult with the defendants on any changes to their time or recordkeeping practices.

– Implement and use an electronic timekeeping system to ensure accurate recording of employees' work hours.

– Train employees, in languages they understand, on the proper use of the timekeeping system and pay them for that training time.

– Post and provide employees with information and documents in English and Spanish about the FLSA's requirements and their FLSA rights.

The order also permanently enjoins the defendants from inaccurately editing or altering employees' work hours, having employees work “off the books,” retaliating or discriminating against employees who engage in FLSA protected activity and requiring or asking employees to kick back wages.

“The defendants took advantage of their employees by underpaying them and then tried to hide this illegal behavior by falsifying their payroll records,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director David An in Westbury, N.Y. “Gargan Stables Corp. and Danny Gargan have learned that disregard for federal labor laws and their employees' rights have costly consequences. We suggest other employers review their own pay practices to prevent violations. The Wage and Hour Division has many tools to assist employers and workers in understanding the law.”

“To put it plainly, underpaying employees is wage theft. The U.S. Department of Labor has, and will continue to pursue all necessary legal avenues to obtain proper compensation for employees and deter future violations by employers. This settlement – the latest of several with racing industry employers – compensates these underpaid workers and includes enhanced training and timekeeping requirements to change this employer's behavior and prevent future violations,” said Regional Solicitor of Labor Jeffrey Rogoff in New York.

The division's Long Island District Office conducted the original investigation. Senior Trial Attorney David J. Rutenberg of the regional Office of the Solicitor in New York litigated the case for the department.

Workers can call the Wage and Hour Division confidentially with questions – regardless of their immigration status – and the department can speak with callers in more than 200 languages.

For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the division, contact the agency's toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division.

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Record Opening Night Wagering Paces Solid Start To Sam Houston Meet

Sam Houston Race Park in Houston, Texas, opened its 50-day live Thoroughbred season on Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022 with a record opening night handle of $3.2 million.

“We were very pleased with our handle as our traditional opening nights have been on a Friday or Saturday,” said Frank Hopf, assistant general manager. “Our thanks to the horsemen and our loyal horseplayers for their enthusiastic support.”

Friday night's handle totaled $2,234,868, but an intense thunderstorm on Saturday evening forced the cancelation of the final two races on the card.

Live racing continues Thursday, Jan. 13, with a 4 p.m. (Central) post time. The 2022 Thoroughbred meet runs through Saturday, April 9.

A full schedule of post times and special racing events is posted on shrp.com.

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Hall Of Fame Trainer Fighting Testosterone Positive For Harness Racing Champion

Perfect Sting, named 3-year-old male pacing champion of 2021 by the U.S. Harness Writers Association when Dan Patch Award winners were announced on Dec. 20, was subsequently found to have failed a drug test from the $148,332 Pennsylvania Sire Stakes at The Meadows that took place six months earlier.

The ruling, published at the United States Trotting Association website on Dec. 31 and reported at HarnessLink.com, stated that Perfect Sting tested positive for testosterone at a level of 3,765 pg/ml. A split sample subsequently confirmed the finding at a level of 3,635/pg/ml.

Trainer Joseph Holloway has been suspended 15 days from Jan. 17, 2022, through Jan. 31, 2022, and fined $500. Perfect Sting, who was elevated to first place in the Pennsylania Sire Stakes via disqualification of the original first-place finisher, has been disqualified from his win, with $74,166 in purse money ordered returned and redistributed.

Perfect Sting, also the champion 2-year-old pacer in 2020, was harness racing's richest performer in 2021 (prior to this ruling). Holloway, a member of the Harness Racing Museum Hall of Fame, was recipient of the Dan Patch Good Guy Award in 2021.

Holloway, who has appealed the ruling, contends Perfect Sting was never given testosterone, according to a report in HarnessLink.com. Instead, he suggests, the testosterone level of Perfect Sting – an intact horse – may have spiked naturally through proximity to an in-heat mare or other reason. Levels for testosterone for females and gelded males are more predictable than full colts and stallions.

“Stallions can have seasonal highs and lows for testosterone levels,” said Dr. Mary Scollay, executive director and chief operating officer of the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium. “That's why RMTC does not recommend a threshold level for testosterone.”

Pennsylvania may be the only racing state that has a threshold level for testosterone for intact male horses, apparently set at 3,000 pg/ml.

Holloway told HarnessLink.com he has sent hair samples from Perfect Sting to a laboratory in the United Kingdom that he said “can tell whether the testosterone at that time was given to him, or it is just natural in his system at such a high level.”