Tag: TJC Integrity

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) and Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit (HIWU) are accepting inquiries from individuals interested in serving on the Internal Adjudication Panel (IAP) established by HISA's Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) Program, which goes into effect Jan. 1, 2023.

Under the ADMC Program, members of the IAP will adjudicate Controlled Medication Rule Violations, which are defined in Rule Series 3000: Equine Anti-Doping and Controlled Medication Protocol. They are appointed by mutual agreement of HISA and HIWU for four-year terms and will serve as independent contractors to both entities. The list of IAP members will be published on hiwu.org.

“Racing participants, fans, and bettors deserve a process for adjudicating potential violations of HISA's medication rules that is uniform, efficient, and fair,” said HISA Chief Executive Officer Lisa Lazarus. “The creation of the IAP will allow us to bring seasoned experts together to ensure each case is handled with the utmost integrity and professionalism.”

“The IAP will play a key role in ensuring that Controlled Medication Rule Violations are adjudicated swiftly and fairly under HISA's ADMC Program,” said Ben Mosier, executive director for HIWU. “Our goal is to compile a diverse and experienced group to handle these cases and promote the integrity of Thoroughbred racing.”

Interested candidates should have at least five years of experience in hearing equine medication cases, either as stewards or in other regulatory roles in the equine industry. Active state stewards are permitted to serve on the IAP but will be prohibited from participating in cases originating in their state of employment. Those selected as IAP members will receive training on the ADMC Program before they are assigned to cases.

Additional information about requirements for service on the IAP and adjudication procedures for Controlled Medication Rule Violations can be found in the Rule 7000 Series: Arbitration Procedures from HISA's ADMC Program regulations that were submitted to the Federal Trade Commission.

Those who are interested in applying for the IAP should submit a cover letter, resume, and list of references to info@hiwu.org with a subject line of “Internal Adjudication Panel.”

About the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority

Established when the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act was signed into federal law in 2020, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) is responsible for drafting and enforcing uniform safety and integrity rules in Thoroughbred racing in the U.S. Overseen by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), HISA was created to implement, for the first time, a national, uniform set of rules applicable to every Thoroughbred racing participant and racetrack facility. HISA is composed of two programs: the Racetrack Safety Program, which went into effect on July 1, 2022, and the Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) Program, which goes into effect January 1, 2023.

About the Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit

The Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit (HIWU) was established in 2022 by Drug Free Sport International to administer the rules and enforcement mechanisms of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority's (HISA) Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) Program. The ADMC Program, which will be effective as of January 1, 2023, will create a centralized testing and results management process and apply uniform penalties for violations efficiently and consistently across all American Thoroughbred racing jurisdictions that HISA governs. HIWU will oversee testing, educate stakeholders on the new program, accredit laboratories, investigate potential violations, and prosecute any such violations.

About Drug Free Sport International

Drug Free Sport International is a worldwide leader in the sport drug testing industry. Drug Free Sport International administers comprehensive drug testing programs, manages national and international collections, develops drug testing policies, and provides educational services to a wide range of professional and amateur athletics organizations around the world. Its highly educated, experienced, and diverse staff is committed to quality, technical innovation, and maintaining the most extensive network of highly trained and certified sport drug testing collectors in the industry.

The post HISA Seeking Members To Serve On Internal Adjudication Panel appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Jorge Navarro, the admitted cheater who last December was sentenced to five years in federal prison for his role in a wide-ranging horse-doping scheme busted by the FBI, appeared to be something of a mentor to fellow Thoroughbred trainer Michael Tannuzzo.

Like mentors often do, Navarro challenged Tannuzzo to be the best he could be. He offered advice on how and when to administer various illegal performance-enhancing drugs to get the best effect and to avoid detection by testing laboratories.

In the end, however, Navarro said it was up to Tannuzzo.

“Grow some balls,” Navarro said to Tannuzzo in a text message after offering to administer clenbuterol to one of Tannuzzo's horses. “Juice him up.”

“OK,” Tannuzzo responded, according to a pre-sentencing letter submitted by federal prosecutors to Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil, who will determine whether Tannuzzo will go to prison and for how long. Tannuzzo pleaded guilty in July to one count of drug adulteration and misbranding as part of a plea agreement.

At his change of plea hearing (which came after the court denied motions to dismiss and to suppress evidence, and after two other defendants were convicted in a jury trial), Tannuzzo downplayed his own cheating.

“Tannuzzo stated – despite evidence to the contrary – that his conduct consisted of connecting a trainer (“Trainer-1”) with co-defendant Ross Cohen for the purpose of enabling Trainer-1 to purchase 'Monkey,' a drug Tannuzzo claimed he 'never used.' …

“Tannuzzo selectively admits to certain of his offense conduct, then insists that he did not ever personally administer PEDs to a horse, and that he only 'banter[ed]' but did not take 'actual action.'”

Prosecutors said Tannuzzo's “narrative … belies the scope and extent of his offense conduct.”

The pre-sentencing letter said Tannuzzo “routinely” obtained blood builders like “Monkey” from Cohen and sought PEDs from Navarro and also assisted in the latter's doping program.

“Tannuzzo was not merely a spectator to Navarro's doping,” prosecutors wrote. “Tannuzzo used Navarro to gain insight and access to PEDs beyond those Tannuzzo was independently procuring.”

In one intercepted conversation between Navarro and Tannuzzo, Navarro explained how to administer a product he was told was similar to the blood-doping agent EPO.

“Here is what I want you to do, Mikey,” Navarro said. “Tomorrow, you pull the blood as soon as the vet turns around. This powder you mix it with 2ccs of water. … Alright so you mix and then you give it to the vein, whatever you mix it with 2ccs, 2.5 ccs, 3ccs, doesn't matter. Alright, so tomorrow is Friday. Saturday I want you to come in and give her a build-up. Monday, I want you to come and give her a build-up. Wednesday, I want you to come and give her a build-up. Okay.

“But this is the generic,” Navarro said, apparently referring to a compounded product. “The real (EPO) you got three days. Alright, that's why Nick Surick (co-defendant due who also pleaded guilty and is due for sentencing in December) called me, 'Jorge, I'm in trouble, I did the real one, what do I do?' I said they can't pull blood the first three days. The fourth day, they see a cloud, but they don't know what the fuck it is.”

Navarro was referring to how long after administering the FDA-approved EPO, or erythropoietin, it is detectable in drug tests. Prosecutors said Surick had administered EPO to a racehorse shortly before the New Jersey Racing Commission showed up to take out-of-competition samples for the horse. He then directed his staff to try and hide the horse from regulators.

Prosecutors also said Tannuzzo obtained the adulterated and misbranded drug SGF-1000 from co-defendant Kristian Rhein. In an intercepted conversation with Tannuzzo on June 29, 2019, Rhein explained the potency of the drug and how and when to administer it in advance of a specific race in which a Tannuzzo runner would be entered.

“Pop him with this thing though before he runs,” Rhein said. “You know, three, four days, doesn't matter. Whatever you want. I mean but just – it doesn't need anything else.

“Just give it and he will come out of there (like) he was shot out of a fucking gun.”

When the two spoke June 30, 2019, Rhein said an injection could be done three to four days before a race.

“I gave it to him today,” said Tannuzzo. “That's only six days out.”

According to Equibase, Tannuzzo ran two horses six days later. On July 6, 2019, Flying P Stable's Rocket Heat finished second at 8-1 odds in the Grade 3, $200,000 Parx Dash. That same day, Flying P Stable's Rockford finished second as the 8-5 favorite in a $12,500 claiming race at Monmouth Park.

“Tannuzzo's efforts to obtain the aforementioned drugs was not mere 'banter,'” prosecutors wrote. “The defendant's self-serving claims in his sentencing submission that he did not ever 'follow through and dope horses' in light of his conversations and efforts to obtain PEDs defies common sense.”

The government is recommending a prison sentence of between 30 to 36 months. Sentencing is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET on Monday, Nov. 21, in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, 500 Pearl Street, New York, N.Y.

The post ‘Grow Some Balls, Juice Him Up’: In Pre-Sentencing Letter, Prosecutors Say Tannuzzo Learned From Navarro Doping Program appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Joseph Sutton and Louis Linder Jr., respective owner and trainer of Far Mo Power, have sued Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission executive Thomas Chuckas over his decision to deny an appeal hearing to reconsider the horse's disqualification in a Sept. 24, 2022, stakes at Parx Racing.

Far Mo Power, a 12-1 longshot, finished first by a neck in the $200,000 Parx Dirt Mile Stakes on the Pennsylvania Derby day card at the Bensalem, Pa., track, but was disqualified by stewards for interfering with Mind Control, the 3-5 favorite owned by Red Oak Stable and Madaket Stables and trained by Todd Pletcher. The Equibase chart shows that the two horses were engaged in a tight battle from the quarter pole to the wire, with Mind Control – ridden by John Velazquez – putting his head in front at the furlong pole and Far Mo Power rallying to prevail after drifting out and brushing his rival when hit left-handed with the whip by jockey Dexter Haddock.

According to the complaint filed by attorney Alan Pincus in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, Linder “sought advice from the horseman's group at Parx as to how to appeal pro se and was given a form prepared by the commission for such appeals.”

The form was notarized on Sept. 26 and submitted to the commission.

On Sept. 30, Chuckas, director of the Pennsylvania commission's Thoroughbred bureau, issued an order denying a hearing based on the reasoning that Linder “failed to set forth in numbered paragraphs a concise statement of all the factual and legal grounds upon which the hearing was requested.”

The appeal form, on Pennsylvania State Horse Racing Commission letterhead, had four lines available for the appellant to state reasons for the appeal and suggested a blank paper may be used if more space is needed. Linder wrote “No Foul Occurred” in the space asking for reasons for filing the appeal

“This should appear concise to anyone,” the lawsuit states.

The complaint adds that, “Upon information and belief the commission has never rejected a hearing from anyone who used the commission's form. Upon information and belief the commission has never rejected a hearing from anyone who failed to use numbered paragraphs.

“In all meaningful ways Linder's appeal conformed to the relevant rules,” the complaint added, then provided information about a Sept. 29 ruling concerning trainer Juan Vazquez.

In that ruling, the complaint said, “The commission stated in a footnote 'Appellant's appeal failed to comply with 179.7(a) (1) of the commission's regulations in that appellant failed to set forth a statement of all the factual and legal grounds upon which the hearing is requested. Nevertheless, in the interest of fairness, the commission granted the appeal in this matter and conducted a de novo hearing.'”

The complaint then added, “Thus somewhere between Sept. 29 and Sept. 30 the interests of fairness disappeared from the commission and were not considered in denying plaintiffs' appeal.”

Chuckas' actions were called “arbitrary and capricious and designed with the specific intent to deprive plaintiffs of their Due Process Rights.”

Plaintiffs are seeking a ruling to the effect that Chuckas deprived them of Due Process, an order requiring the commission to provide a hearing, and costs and disbursements including attorney's fees.

The post Far Mo Power Connections Sue Over Decision To Deny Appeal Of Parx Dirt Mile DQ appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Two-time Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Doug O'Neill has been suspended 30 days and fined $10,000 for a medication violation that occurred at Golden Gate Fields in Albany, Calif., on May 1, 2022, when Reddam Racing LLC's Worse Read Sanchez tested positive for lidocaine after a third-place finish in the Silky Sullivan Stakes.

The stipulated agreement calls for a 60-day suspension, with 30 days to be stayed “for good cause.”

O'Neill was suspended 30 days and fined $7,500 in March 2021 for a previous lidocaine positive, with 20 days of that suspension stayed.

Lidocaine, a local anesthetic, is a Class 2 drug with a Category B penalty under California Horse Racing Board rules.

According to the complaint, Worse Read Sanchez was found by the UC Davis laboratory to have 180 picograms per milliliter of 3-Hydroxy Lidocaine in his system. O'Neill requested a split sample be tested by Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory, and that lab confirmed the presence of the drug at time of testing.

The reduction of the suspension from 60 to 30 days – conditioned on there being no further Class 1, Class 2 or Class 3 drug violations during a probationary period from May 1, 2020, through May 1, 2023 – means O'Neill can turn the stable over to an assistant during his absence.

Under CHRB rules, a 60-day suspension would have required O'Neill to transfer his horses to someone other than a family member or employee. In addition, O'Neill would have been required to forfeit all stalls assigned to him and remove all signage, training-related equipment, tack, office equipment and other property. Those sanctions do not reply with 30 days of the original suspension stayed.

Stewards set the days of his suspension from Nov. 21 through Dec. 20, meaning O'Neill will miss the final two weeks of Del Mar's Bing Crosby season and the six-day Los Alamitos winter Thoroughbred meet.

O'Neill, who has been a licensed trainer since 1988, has won 2,738 races from 17,052 starts. In addition to his two Kentucky Derby victories (I'll Have Another in 2012 and Nyquist in 2016), O'Neill has saddled five Breeders' Cup winners.

The post Doug O’Neill Suspended 30 Days, Fined $10,000 For Lidocaine Positive appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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