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PA Raids That Yielded ‘Significant Contraband’ Now Termed as ‘Nothing of Substance’

One month after initially stating at a Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission (PHRC) meeting that May backstretch raids at Parx yielded a “significant amount of contraband” and “items that have no business on the backside,” Tom Chuckas, the director of Thoroughbred horse racing for the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, gave a Tuesday update that now describes the yield from those searches in markedly less sensationalistic terms.

“In the last months, enforcement action was taken both at Penn National and at Parx,” Chuckas told commissioners at the June 29 PHRC meeting during his monthly briefing. “That enforcement action consisted of…vehicle searches, barn searches, vet trailer searches. In addition, we did out-of-competition testing both at Penn National and at Parx, and the preliminary results from these investigative enforcement actions is very, very minor infractions. Nothing of substance.”

Yet according to a June 2 ruling posted on the PHRC website, the May 21 raid did allegedly turn up “21 loaded hypodermic needles and hypodermic syringes” in the locked tack room of Parx trainer Richard Vega. TDN first reported that development on June 2.

Vega is currently appealing a summary suspension issued for that infraction by Parx stewards. He was denied a request for a stay that would have allowed him to keep training until his hearing date, and has not started a horse since May 19.

Chuckas–who gave his entire monthly Thoroughbred investigatory report in just 50 seconds–said nothing about Vega's aspect of the case. But he did add that the commission's enforcement branch will have a more active racetrack presence now that pandemic protocols have eased.

“We will continue to conduct enforcement actions moving forward now that COVID's over and most of our staff's been vaccinated,” Chuckas said.

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Richard Vega Suspended by Parx Stewards

According to a ruling posted on the Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission's website, trainer Ricardo (Richie) Vega had been “summarily suspended” by the stewards at Parx Racetrack.

The story was first reported by the website www.theracingbiz.com.

The decision comes after the racing commission staged a backstretch raid at Parx over the weekend of May 22-23. Investigators searched cars, barns and grooms' quarters. Tom Chuckas, who heads the Pennsylvania Racing Commission, reported to his fellow regulators during a Zoom call that “a significant amount of contraband” had been uncovered and that the contraband included, “items that have no business on the backside.”

On the day of Chuckas' announcement, all three horses trained by Vega were scratched by the stewards. He has not had a runner since.

The stewards issued their suspension on May 24, but it was appealed by Vega's lawyer. On May 27, the appeal was heard and denied.

In the notification of Vega's suspension, the commission cited Rule 401.61, which reads, “Possession of hypodermic needles, syringes and injectable substances. No person, except a Commission Veterinarian, racetrack veterinarian or veterinarian licensed by the Commission, may possess or use a hypodermic needle, hypodermic syringe capable of accepting a needle and injectable substances of any kind, type or description on the licensed racetrack grounds, in that person's custody, control or possession.”

According to the ruling, investigators found, “multiple loaded needles and syringes” in Vega's tack room. It also noted that the needles included injectable substances.

The ruling also notes that licensees are not permitted to “engage in inappropriate, illegal or unethical conduct which violates the Commission's rules and regulations of racing, is inconsistent with the best interests and integrity of racing or otherwise undermines the general public's faith, public perception and confidence in the racing industry.”

While suspended, Vega will be “denied the privileges of the grounds” of all racetracks in Pennsylvania,” a ban that will be honored by the other tracks in the state as well as all racetracks outside of Pennsylvania.

Vega emigrated from Cuba in 1980 and began his career on the racetrack as a groom in Florida. He was the leading trainer at Philadelphia Park in 1998 and was later voted into the Parx Racing Hall of Fame. Training since 1992, Vega has won 1,115 races and his stable has earned $19.5 million.

Vega has the option of appealing the ruling to the Pennsylvania Racing Commission.

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Pennsylvania: New Clenbuterol Restrictions And Illegal Drugs Found In Barn Searches

At its virtual meeting May 25, the Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission unanimously approved new restrictions on clenbuterol use. While previously the drug carried a 2 picogram per milliliter threshold, any detectable level of the medication will be considered a violation if the administration does not meet certain requirements. Administrations must come as the result of a prescription made for a specific horse for a specific diagnosis and the prescribing veterinarian must report the horse's identity and diagnosis to the commission. The prescribing veterinarian may be asked for a copy of the prescription also. Trainers must also report the administration to the commission.

Treatment periods for clenbuterol may run no more than 30 days, and horses will go on the veterinarian's list after treatment. They may be required to pass a drug test for clenbuterol before being allowed to enter a race. The idea of the new regulations, according to executive director Tom Chuckas, is not to ban the substance's use in all racing horses but to prevent it being in horses' system at race time.

The new regulations will apply to Thoroughbreds only.

Representatives of both the Pennsylvania Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association and Pennsylvania HBPA expressed support for the new measures, as did the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association.

Samuel Beegle, president of the Pennsylvania Harness Horsemen's Association, sounded less enthusiastic.

“I think you're digging a hole for yourself,” was Beegle's only comment to the commission prior to the vote.

Clenbuterol, commonly known by its trade name of Ventipulmin syrup, is an effective treatment for common respiratory ailments in the horse but can also have anabolic steroid-like effects.

Also at Tuesday's meeting, Chuckas revealed that barn searches had resumed at Parx after being significantly reduced during COVID-19, and produced some disturbing results during a series of raids last weekend.

“We did six total barn searches, six tack room searches,” he said. “In addition to that, we looked at five grooms' quarters and five external tack rooms. We did 66 out-of-competition tests. In our enforcement action, I can say without getting into too much detail, a significant amount of contraband was discovered dealing with medications, either unlabeled, compounded, or expired.

“I regret to say that there were contraband items that have no business on the backside, like needles and syringes and some other things that we discovered. Be advised, many of these carry an active investigation … so I'm somewhat confined in what I can share. The fact of the matter is Parx is the first step in this process … moving forward I think it's fair to say the other tracks will receive the same enforcement action.”

There were 25 scratches from Tuesday's card at Parx, including nine stewards' scratches, though it remains clear if those are connected to the results of the raids, which Thoroughbred Daily News reports took place over the weekend. Trainer Richard Vega saw all three of his entries scratched by stewards. Vega trains horses for Dun Roamin Farm, which is the nom de course for Pennsylvania Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association president Sal DeBunda. DeBunda was the only commissioner not appearing on the meeting Tuesday.

According to laws passed in 2015, Thoroughbred horsemen and breeders' representatives on the commission hold veto power on the hiring of a director, adoption of regulations including medication rules, and approval or denial of licenses to operate race meetings.

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Parx Backstretch Raid Yields Significant Contraband

Recent backstretch raids staged by the Pennsylvania Racing Commission at Parx have uncovered what Director of Thoroughbred Horse Racing at Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Tom Chuckas described as a “significant amount of contraband” and “items that have no business on the backside.”

Chuckas made the revelations during a regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday of the Pennsylvania Racing Commission. The meeting was held over Zoom and a one-minute-and-twenty second segment was captured and posted on Twitter by veterinarian Kathryn Papp. Pennsylvania Racing Commissioner Russell Jones took part in the meeting and confirmed the authenticity of Papp's Twitter post.

“No names were given to us but I know they found a lot of (expletive),” Jones told the TDN. “They found a lot of evidence, syringes, whatever you call that stuff. Whatever it is they found, a lot of stuff that you might think is incriminating.”

Jones said the raid was conducted “over the weekend,” but did not know if it was conducted on Saturday or Sunday or both days.

In what may or may not be a related development, there were 25 scratches from Tuesday's card at Parx, including nine horses who were ordered scratched by the stewards. The stewards' scratches included all three horses entered by trainer Richard Vega.

Chuckas, who did not return a phone call seeking comment, told those on the Zoom call that the investigation was extensive.

“We went through the barn area and the tack rooms,” he said. “We did six solo barn searches, six tack room searches. In addition to that we looked at given grooms' quarters and five external tack rooms. Sixty-six out-of-competition tests were performed. In our enforcement action, I can say without getting into too much detail that a significant amount of contraband was discovered. Dealing with medications, unlabeled compounded or expired…I regret to say they were contraband items that have no business on the backside, with needles and syringes and some other things that we discovered.”

A subsequent request to the racing commission asking for them to release the minutes of Tuesday's session also went unanswered.

“Whatever it is, they found a lot of stuff that you might think is incriminating,” Jones said, adding that “they had a very active weekend.”

Chuckas said he was not at liberty to reveal the names of those trainers who were involved while the investigation is ongoing.

Jones said that the racing commission had not been able to conduct normal investigations during the height of the COVID pandemic and was just now starting to catch up. Chuckas implied that similar investigations at the state's other two Thoroughbred racetracks, Presque Isle Downs and Penn National, were imminent.

“Moving forward, I think it is fair to say that the other tracks will receive the same enforcement action,” he said.

Jones said that he had become concerned that so much time had passed since the last time the commission launched such an investigation.

“I'm thrilled there is something to start with,” Jones said. “I had been impatient. They were great about doing out-of-competition testing in 2019 but in 2020 it was a fraction of what we did before. They're going to be ongoing normal procedure now, as far as out-of-competition testing goes. We've got a lot of stuff that we are working on now that ought to come to fruition. I hope these raids, or whatever you call them, are going to provide something that's worth reporting.”

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