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Weekly Stewards and Commissions Rulings, Apr. 19-25

Every week, the TDN publishes a roundup of key official rulings from the primary tracks within the four major racing jurisdictions of California, New York, Florida and Kentucky.

Here's a primer on how each of these jurisdictions adjudicates different offenses, what they make public (or not) and where.

California

Track: Santa Anita
Date: 04/20/2022
Licensee: Ed Moger, trainer
Penalty: $500 fine
Violation: Out of competition medication violation
Explainer: Trainer Ed Moger, who worked the horse Squalotoro for removal from the Veterinarian's List on March 10, 2022, at Santa Anita Park, is fined $500.00 pursuant to California Horse Racing Board Rules #1887(a) (Trainer or Owner to Insure Condition of Horse) for violation of California Horse Racing Board Rule #1866(h) (Veterinarian's List), #1843(a)(b)(d) (Medication, Drugs and Other Substances) and Rule #1843.1(a) (Prohibited Drug Substances – Phenylbutazone – Class 4).

Track: Santa Anita
Date: 04/20/2022
Licensee: Bob Hess, trainer
Penalty: $500 fine
Violation: Out of competition medication violation
Explainer: Trainer Robert Hess, who worked the horse Rantanen for removal from the Veterinarian's List on February 14, 2022, at Santa Anita Park, is fined $500.00 pursuant to California Horse Racing Board Rules #1887 (Trainer or Owner to Insure Condition of Horse) for violation of California Horse Racing Board Rule #1866(h) (Veterinarian's List), #1843(a)(b)(d) (Medication, Drugs and Other Substances), Rule 1844(d)(1) (Authorized Medication) and Rule #1843.1 (Prohibited Drug Substances – 5-Hydroxy Dantrolene [Class 4]).

Track: Santa Anita
Date: 04/20/2022
Licensee: Diego Herrera, jockey
Penalty: $1,000 fine
Violation: Excessive use of the whip
Explainer: Apprentice Jockey Diego Herrera is fined $1,000.00 for violation of California Horse Racing Board rule #1688(b)(8)(d) (Use of Riding Crop – more than six times – third offense in the past sixty days) during the eighth race at Santa Anita Park on April 17, 2022.

Kentucky
The following ruling was not posted in time for inclusion last week.

Track: Keeneland
Date: 04/10/2022
Licensee: Brian Hernandez, Jr., jockey
Penalty: $500 fine
Violation: Excessive use of the whip
Explainer: After waiving his right to a hearing before the Board of Stewards, Brian J. Hernandez, Jr., who rode Cilla in the seventh race at Keeneland on April 9, 2022, was found to have violated the crop regulation. This being his first offense, Mr. Hernandez was given the option and chose to pay a fine. Brian Hernandez, Jr. is hereby fined $500.00 for his improper use of the riding crop by exceeding the allowable use in the overhand manner. Upon receipt of this ruling, it is required within 30 days to pay any and all fines imposed to the Kentucky horse Racing Commission. Failure to do so will subject the licensee to summary suspension of license pursuant to 810 KAR 3:020 Section 15 (cc).

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ROAP Schedules Accreditation School and Certificate Course

The Racing Officials Accreditation Program (ROAP), which accredits and provides continuing education to all racing officials, stewards, and judges in racing, will hold its annual accreditation school for stewards and judges at California's Los Alamitos Race Course from Sept. 11-18. The course, which includes 60 hours of schooling, provides classroom instruction as well as time shadowing officials. Curriculum covers both Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing, as well as harness racing. The accreditation school is open to all applicants who meet and complete the registration requirements by Aug. 12.

In addition, in association with Chippewa Downs, ROAP will also hold a certificate course at the Sky Dancer Resort and Casino in North Dakota May 13-14. This course, which is open to the public and has no charge, consists of general racing industry education geared toward those interesting in becoming racing officials. There will be job-specific modules for the racing official positions of clerk of scales, horse identifier, paddock judge, placing judge, outrider, and starter/assistant starter.

For registration for both the accreditation school and the certificate course or for more information, contact Wendy Culberson at contactus@horseracingofficials.com or 859-224-2702. ROAP's website is horseracingofficials.com.

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Churchill’s Paddock to be Expanded by 2024 Derby

Churchill Downs Inc. (CDI) will launch a $185- to $200-million redesign of the paddock that will be in place for the 150th GI Kentucky Derby in 2024. The “Paddock Project,” a massive expansion and redevelopment, is the final phase of CDI's three-year capital investment plan.

The transformation will increase the current 5,000 square feet of guest space to 12,000 square feet, update the capacity inside the paddock from 1,000 to 2,400 people, and add various club spaces and seating, including 3,612 new premium reserved seats and 3,250 new standing room-only tickets. In addition, the current paddock configuration blocks views of the twin spires from the entrance gate, while the new design will give better visibility.

“This is one of the most significant construction projects in the history of Churchill Downs Racetrack because it significantly impacts what we consider to be the heart of the property,” said Bill Carstanjen, CEO of CDI. “We took great care to ensure this is designed in a way that would transform Churchill Downs while enhancing our ability to deliver on what our fans hope for and expect from us for generations to come.”

Construction will begin after Churchill's spring meet and will accommodate future live racing dates. The massive transformation of the paddock follows the $44.5-million Homestretch Club project that is set to debut this year during Derby Week and the $89.2-million Turn 1 Experience that will open next year.

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Lisa Giannelli Trial Begins

Jury selection kicked off April 27 in the trial of a Delaware woman who prosecutors say helped veterinarian Dr. Seth Fishman supply illegal performance-enhancing drugs to trainers who used them to secretly dope horses to win races.

By day's end, a jury of eight men and four women was sworn in to hear the case against Lisa Giannelli in U.S. District Court in New York.

Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil scheduled opening statements for Apr. 28. The government has two FBI agents lined up to testify as their first witnesses.

Giannelli was in court for the jury selection.

One of the jurors chosen is a 60-year-old woman who said during voir dire that she has attended the GI Kentucky Derby “numerous times.”

Giannelli, of Felton, worked for Fishman and his Florida company Equestology as a sales representative. They were arrested two years ago following a lengthy FBI investigation into suspected backstretch horse doping that nabbed more than two dozen others.

Those charged included prominent Thoroughbred trainers Jorge Navarro and Jason Servis. Navarro pleaded guilty last year and was sentenced to five years in prison. Servis is awaiting a trial that has been pushed back to early 2023.

Giannelli's case is being heard in the same courthouse where Fishman was convicted Feb. 2 on two counts of conspiracy to violate adulteration or misbranding laws after an 11-day trial. She is charged with one of those crimes.

Fishman and Giannelli have been the only ones in the case to take their chances at trial. There have been nine other guilty pleas since the arrests, including Navarro's.

Giannelli was to be tried with Fishman, but after opening statements and testimony from the government's first witness, a mistrial was declared in her case after her lawyer Louis Fasulo tested positive for COVID-19, preventing him from proceeding.

She faces five years in prison if convicted. She is free on $100,000 bond.

At a conference Apr. 25, Fasulo said his client would be testifying in her own defense. He also said she would be his only witness. Fishman didn't testify, and his lawyers called no other witnesses.

Fasulo told Vyskocil that he was “100% certain” Gianelli would take the stand.

“I never make that commitment, but we know it's going to happen,” he said.

In court papers last month, prosecutors spelled out their case against Giannelli.

They said she had traveled to racehorse training facilities in the northeast U.S., offering to sell Fishman's drugs “on demand, without regard to the existence of any prescription, the medical need for such drugs or the legality (or propriety) of selling such drugs directly to racehorse trainers.”

In court papers, Fasulo has signaled his intent to put on a “good faith” defense.

“A person acts in good faith when he or she has an honestly held belief, opinion, or understanding that as part of her experience in the horse racing industry veterinarians were allowed to sell drugs they compounded or manufactured and it was the trainer's responsibility to follow withdrawal times, even though the belief, opinion or understanding turns out to be inaccurate or incorrect,” Fasulo wrote in a proposed instruction that he wants the jury to hear before it begins deliberations.

At the previous trial, Fasulo sought to distance his client from Fishman, a tactic he is expected to take this time around.

“We sit here today after hearing the government's opening statement that Lisa Giannelli is a lone wolf in a herd of sheep,” he said as he began his opening remarks to the prior jury. “This case will prove that Lisa was a sheep herded by the sheep master.”

Fasulo said then that Giannelli had been a groom and a trainer before she went to work for Fishman. He said they had worked together for 18 years.

Fasulo said his client had no ability to create the products that Fishman manufactured and had no ability to label them.

“She took no responsibility as to the products as they were presented to her, other than they were presented by a veterinarian who was licensed in the states in which she was dealing,” he said.

At the end of his remarks, he said they don't hide from the fact that Giannelli worked for Fishman.

“What the government found in her home were products given to her by Seth Fishman, the veterinarian, and you will hear that she believed those products to be okay to transport to others,” he said.

The trial is expected to last two weeks.

The Thoroughbred industry's leading publications are working together to cover this key trial.

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