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Another Case Of Mistaken Identity Alleged At Albuquerque

Two Thoroughbreds previously owned by Judge Lanier Racing apparently were inadvertently switched last year before a pair of races at the Downs at Albuquerque in New Mexico and the track's horse identifier failed to catch the error. One year later, their Equibase statistical data has not been corrected, though the New Mexico Racing Commission is now looking into the matter.

Trainer Sherry Armstrong sent out a filly she believed to be named McCirca for two races at Albuquerque on Aug. 22, 2020, and Sept. 16, 2020. Armstrong said she learned shortly after the Sept. 16 race that McCirca was actually another 4-year-old filly named McMissy, also owned by Judge Lanier Racing. Both were bred by McKenna Thoroughbreds and sired by McKenna's Justice.

One major difference between the two fillies: McCirca is a bay, while McMissy is chestnut.

Both horses were part of the Judge Lanier Racing LLC Dispersal of Race Horses held online Sept. 16, 2020, through Sept. 23, 2020, conducted by ThoroughbredAuctions.com. The stable, owned by Tom and Sandy McKenna and named after Tom's grandfather, Judge C.M. Lanier, has been a leading owner in New Mexico.

The auction company was alerted to the mixup and posted the following correction on McMissy's catalogue page: “IMPORTANT UPDATE: Due to a paddock identification error, McMissy ran 8/22/20 and 9/16/21 at The Downs at Albuquerque, not McCirca. McCirca was not at the racetrack on those dates and did not race.”[

A similar message was on McCirca's page.

“I basically had nothing to do with it,” Armstrong said. “Judge Lanier sent me horses with tags on their halters. I never saw the papers. I didn't know anything about it until they went to sell them and Sandy said, 'This is a big mess.'”

Armstrong said the filly she saddled did have a microchip for identification purposes but said “our identifier is not the best.” However, Armstrong admitted, “I know it's the trainer's ultimate responsibility.”

It wasn't just the trainer or Albuquerque's horse identifier who failed to properly identify the horse. The private veterinarian who treated the horse with furosemide on race-day apparently didn't check the ID, either. (Note: New Mexico still permits private veterinarians in the stalls for furosemide shots on race-day.)

McMissy ran twice at Zia Park after the mixup, but his past performance lines for the Nov. 4, 2020, and Dec. 22, 2020, races did not include the races from Albququerque that were credited to McCirca.

McCirca ran at Albuquerque on Aug. 29, 2021, and again on Sept. 14, 2021, in what was actually her first race since March 8, 2020. However, her past performance lines include the two races at Albuquerque that should have been credited to McMissy.

Izzy Trejo, executive director of the New Mexico Racing Commission, said he had only recently been alerted to the alleged mixup and that the commission will be examining video of the races and conducting interviews to determine whether proper protocols were followed. Don Cook, the general manager at the Downs at Albuquerque, told the Paulick Report he was unaware of the mistaken identities.

Another New Mexico-based trainer, Justin Evans, was suspended 15 days and fined $5,000 for mixing up two horses from his stable entered in the same race at Albuquerque on Aug. 14. Evans criticized the equipment given to the horse identifier and the process used to confirm the identity of horses as they come into the paddock. The identifier received a $1,000 fine for the error involving the Evans horses.

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Evans’ Violation History A Factor In Stewards’ Ruling In Horse ID Mix-Up

Trainer Justin Evans doesn't seem to be drumming up much sympathy from racing officials in New Mexico.

Evans, who was handed a 15-day suspension and $5,000 fine for a case of mixed-up identities in the second race Aug. 14 at the Downs at Albuquerque, has had his application for a stay of that suspension denied by the New Mexico Racing Commission. The suspension is set to begin Aug. 26, and Evans' attorney has now filed a motion for a temporary restraining order in court. Evans is also appealing the stewards' ruling against him, which means the case now must go to a hearing officer. No date has been set for either proceeding.

Stewards and track management alike bristled at Evans' comments in the Blood-Horse on Aug. 24 in a story that was aggregated by the Paulick Report. Evans laid blame in part with the racetrack and the horse identifier for two horses – Extremely Wicked and Square Root – running in each other's saddle towels. The race was won by the horse winning the number nine saddle towel, which was supposed to be Extremely Wicked, while the number six horse, who was supposed to be Square Root, was third. Back at the test barn however, officials realized that Square Root was actually the winner and wearing the wrong number.

Both horses were disqualified, though the pari-mutuel results did not change.

Evans said earlier this week that both horses were “plain bays” but, in reality, presiding steward David Hooper said both horses have white markings. According to Jockey Club registration papers, which Evans had properly filed with the racetrack, Square Root has white marks on three of his four limbs, while Extremely Wicked has a small white spot on his forehead.

Both horses are 4-year-old geldings who Evans was saddling for the first time after acquiring them from trainers at Los Alamitos. Both horses had last run in maiden claiming races July 5 at Los Alamitos, with Extremely Wicked finishing second in race five and Square Root finishing fifth in race seven. Extremely Wicked had started there for Phil D'Amato, and Square Root for Doug O'Neill.

“It's clearly trainer responsibility,” said Hooper. “He needs to know the identity of his horses.”

Hooper said in a stewards' hearing regarding the incident, Evans also questioned whether the horses could have been mixed up between the finish line and the test barn. Don Cook, general manager of the Downs at Albuquerque, said that's not possible. The test barn escort is tasked with tagging whichever horses are to be tested (in this case, just the winner) and maintaining a visual on that horse until it arrives in the test barn. Hooper said the test barn tag is visible on the bridle of Square Root, who is wearing Extremely Wicked's gear, in the winner's circle photo.

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Evans' regulatory history did have some bearing on the penalty assigned by the stewards, according to Hooper. The public-facing Thoroughbred Rulings database shows 66 items under Evans' name since 2007, but Hooper said the Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI) database available to stewards shows 144 violations, including transfer of violations between jurisdictions and originals. In the case of the Thoroughbred Rulings database, not every item is a separate ruling, as they are notices to the licensee and therefore include acknowledgements of a fine being paid. The public-facing database also includes all types of rulings, including minor offenses like forgetting a set of silks, and does not include non-Thoroughbred rulings.

“This is the 61^st year I've worked in this business,” said Hooper. “I've never seen a record like that. It was not in the ruling, but it was a very aggravating factor that someone has that much contempt for rules and regulations, in our consideration.”

Evans has been licensed as a trainer since 1999 and is a multiple stakes-winning conditioner. He was 48th in national trainer rankings by wins last year.

Hooper said the stewards have no suspicion that there was an ill intent in the incident, since both horses were the first and second betting choices in the morning line and at the time the race went off.

Of course, the mix-up should have been caught in the paddock by the horse identifier. Grooms are not permitted to wear smocks this racing season due to strict COVID-19 biosecurity protocols in place in New Mexico, which Evans believed contributed to the confusion. Cook said he pulled surveillance footage from the paddock ahead of the race in question and verified that the horse identifier did scan the microchips on both horses. Cook explained that the identifier is tasked with using a scanner to read the horse's microchip and match the number on the chip reader with the 15-digit number listed on his program for the horse. In this case, all but the final four digits were the same in both horses' microchips.

“I take full responsibility for that,” said Cook. “[The identifier] works for me.

“It's horrible. It makes everybody look bad, especially the racetrack.”

Hooper said the identifier did not familiarize himself with the horses' markings in advance of the race, although he had the opportunity to do so, since entries are taken a week out from race day. He confirmed the horse identifier was fined for his role in the mix-up.

Cook said the microchip readers in use at the Downs at Albuquerque meet the standards laid out by the New Mexico Racing Commission and are new. He also said that beginning with today's race program, there will be two people present in the paddock to read and verify microchip numbers. Previously, the horse identifier was the only official whose work was not subject to a check and balances process to avoid mistakes.

“Hopefully this will never, ever happen again.”

Cook said Evans' entry and stall status at the racetrack will depend in part on the outcome of his petition for stay of the suspension.

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Trainer Appeals Fine, Suspension Issued After New Mexico Horse Mix-Up

Trainer Justin Evans and the horse identifier at the Downs at Albuquerque have both been fined for a horse mix-up that occurred during a maiden special weight race on Aug. 14, reports bloodhorse.com.

Evans entered two plain bay geldings, Extremely Wicked and Square Root, in the six-furlong contest. According to the chart, Extremely Wicked won the race wearing the number nine saddle cloth, and Square Root finished third wearing the number six. The number nine paid $5.40 to win as the second choice, while the even-money favorite, number six, paid $2.40 to show.

In the test barn, however, it was discovered that number nine was actually Square Root.

In an Aug. 21 ruling, the New Mexico board of stewards ordered both horses disqualified and unplaced; the horse identifier was fined $1,000; and Evans was fined $5,000 and suspended 15 days (Aug. 26 – Sept. 9). Evans appealed the ruling on Aug. 23, and also filed for a temporary restraining order to controvert the suspension.

“They fined the identifier $1,000 and he keeps his job, but they want to give me a $5,000 fine and take away 15 days when I have a family to feed and own half of my 45-horse stable so I won't be able to transfer any of my horses,” Evans told bloodhorse.com. “Look, the identifiers are up against it because they have terrible equipment. The scanners they use don't show the horse's name and number, only a list of 20 numbers. They want to use the absolute insurer rule, but the track also needs to provide the tools to make sure things like this don't happen.”

Evans said the track does not provide numbered smocks for grooms leading horses to the paddock, and that there are not enough valets to saddle the horses. One of his horses was acting up and had to be saddled outside the paddock on that afternoon, Evans added.

“The valets put the 6 on the 9 horse and the 9 on the 6 horse,” the trainer explained. “The identifier said they were the correct horses. They run and nothing is caught until 20 minutes after the race when they are back at the test barn.”

Quarter Horse Connections Hit With Lengthy Suspensions For Clenbuterol And Albuterol

The New Mexico Racing Commission has doled out several lengthy suspension sentences related to post-race findings of clenbuterol and albuterol in the state this year.

Earlier this month, trainer Humberto Tena was given a 1 1/2-year suspension and a $15,000 fine after runner True Romance tested positive for clenbuterol after finishing third in the Zia Quarter Horse Futurity Trials on July 10. The suspension is retroactive from July 24 and will continue through Jan. 24, 2022. Tena was assigned six points on his license under the multiple medication violation point system and has also been fined $15,000. True Romance is raced under the stable name 21 Partnership, identified as Anwar Elias in the Nov. 12 ruling.

In October, trainer Robert Duane Sanderson was also suspended 18 months for a finding of albuterol in trainee Mr. Desert Wrangler after the fourth race at The Downs at Albuquerque on Aug. 23. Sanderson's suspension is retroactive from his summary suspension Sept. 3, 2020 and is set to continue through March 3, 2022. Sanderson was also fined $15,000 and given six MMV points on his license. Mr. Desert Wrangler is owned by Ramon Trejo, who failed to appear before the commission on the matter.

New Mexico stewards said last week they had not received notices of appeal from either Sanderson or Tena.

Earlier this year, a clenbuterol finding in Gabbis Mountain triggered a year-long suspension and a $10,000 fine for trainer Janell Sanderson. This is the first year of training for Sanderson, who saddled 25 horses and six winners in 2020. Gabbis Mountain had formerly been one of them for owner Jorge L Fernandez, having won the fifth race on June 5 at Ruidoso by disqualification. Janell Sanderson was also summarily suspended June 12 after the commission alleged she failed to comply with an order for out-of-competition testing for ten horses in her care.

All horses have been disqualified from the affected races and declared unplaced, and purses redistributed.

New Mexico has zero tolerance for clenbuterol and albuterol in both Quarter Horses and Thoroughbreds.

Clenbuterol can be prescribed legitimately as a therapeutic medication to treat respiratory illness in horses, but can also be abused for its anabolic-like side effects if given repeatedly over time. Albuterol, well known for its therapeutic use for human breathing conditions, was rumored to have become the choice of trainers looking for the same impacts of clenbuterol after that drug was banned in the state.

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