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MJC Releases Laurel’s Fall Stakes Schedule

The Maryland Jockey Club released the fall schedule of 33 stakes worth $3.525 million in purses for Laurel Park, including the GIII Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash and 36th edition of the Jim McKay Maryland Million. The fall meet begins Thursday, Sept. 9 and continues through Saturday, Dec. 31. For the complete stakes schedule, click here.

The six-furlong De Francis for 3-year-olds and up will help kick off the fall stakes schedule as one of four stakes worth $500,000 in purses Saturday, Sept. 18. Named for the late president and chairman of both Laurel and Pimlico Race Course, its roster of winners includes Hall of Famer Housebuster, fellow sprint champions Cherokee Run, Smoke Glacken, Thor's Echo and Benny the Bull, and Lite the Fuse, the race's only two-time winner.

Saturday, Oct. 2 will feature five stakes, all on turf, worth $600,000 in purses, including the Laurel Futurity for 2-year-olds and Selima for 2-year-old fillies, both going 1 1/16 miles. They will be accompanied by the six-furlong Laurel Dash and a pair of listed stakes-the Japan Turf Cup at 1 1/2 miles and All Along for fillies and mares at 1 1/8 miles.

The 2021 renewal of the Maryland Million returns Saturday, Oct. 23 with eight stakes, including the Classic for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles. Juveniles are in the spotlight in the Nursery and Lassie for females, both at six furlongs.

Thanksgiving weekend will feature five stakes worth $450,000 in purses spread over two days and the final month of the calendar year will feature eight stakes worth $850,000 in purses, headedd by the Maryland Juvenile Futurity for 2-year-olds and Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship, each at seven furlongs, Saturday, Dec. 4.

New to the stakes calendar are the Robert T. Manfuso S. for 3-year-olds and up going 1 1/16 miles and Carousel S. at 1 1/8 miles for fillies and mares 3 and older. The Carousel, which carried Grade III status from 1988 through 1997, was last run in 2002 at Laurel.

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Drug Distributor Kegley Pleads Guilty, Faces up to 36 Months in Jail

Among the individuals originally indicted in the doping scandal involving top trainers Jason Servis and Jorge Navarro, Michael Kegley Jr. entered a guilty plea Friday morning during a teleconference before federal judge Mary Kay Vysockil. Kegley pled guilty to one count of drug adulteration and misbranding.

Kegley had originally pled not guilty to the charges.

Kegley will not be sentenced until a Nov. 22 hearing, but it was revealed during Friday's proceedings that he has entered into a plea agreement with government lawyers in which he has agreed to a sentence ranging from 30 to 36 months. Vysockil noted that there is no parole involved when someone is sentenced on federal charges and that most guilty parties serve at least 85% of their sentence.

Kegley, a 41-year-old Lexington, KY resident, was the director of sales for a company based in Nicholasville, KY called MediVet Equine Associates LLC, and admitted in court that the firm produced and sold drugs that were not permissible to be used on racehorses. The primary drug sold by Kegley was SGF-1000. In phone calls intercepted by the FBI, Servis admits to using SGF-1000 and, at one point, says, “I've been using it on everything almost.”

Vysockil, a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, confronted Kegley, saying, “At this time I would like you to tell me what you did that makes you guilty of the offense charged…Specifically, what you did, when you did it, with whom you did it, where you did it.”

Kegley responded: “Beginning in 2016, I was an independent contractor for a company, MediVet Equine. We sold a variety of products, including SGF-1000. I sold these products to veterinarians, horse trainers. When I did that I knew there was no medical prescription for those products. Also at the time, I knew that the product was not manufactured in an FDA approved facility, nor was it approved for sale by the FDA.”

Vysockil continued to press Kegley, asking a series of follow-up questions. She asked Kegley if he knew that the trainers buying the products intended to use them on Thoroughbred racehorses and whether or not he knew the products were to be used in such a way that regulators could not detect the products through drug tests. Kegley answered “yes” to both questions.

Shortly after Friday's hearing, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss issued a statement, which read: “Michael Kegley promoted and sold unregulated performance enhancing substances intended for use by those engaged in fraud and unconscionable animal abuse in the world of professional horseracing. This conviction underscores that our Office and our partners at the FBI are committed to the prosecution and investigation of corruption, fraud, and endangerment at every level of the horse racing industry.”

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Maryland Breeders Elect New Officers

The Maryland Horse Breeders Association Board of Directors elected Richard F. Blue, Jr. as president, Christy Holden as vice president and Michael Horning as secretary/treasurer during its July 14 meeting.

Blue, President of Blue & Obrecht Realty LLC, served on the MHBA board in 2001 and 2002, again from 2011 to 2017 and was re-elected for another three-year term in 2019. He is a past president of Maryland Million and serves as co-chair of the Maryland Horse Library & Education Center Capital Campaign Committee and on the board of the Maryland State Fair.

Holden is the general manager of Country Life and Merryland Farms. She is serving her second term on the board after being elected in 2018.

Horning is a retired insurance executive and current board member of the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association. He was a presidential appointee to the MHBA board in 2018 and elected to another three-year term in 2019.

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Jockeys and Jeans Sept. 11 at Monmouth

The annual Jockeys and Jeans Fundraiser will be held this year at Monmouth Park on Sept. 11 with all proceeds going directly to the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund. In addition to honoring seven riders who suffered career-ending injuries, this year's fundraiser will also honor first responders on the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Last year's fundraiser, scheduled to be held at Churchill Downs, was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This year's event will be special for several reasons,” said Barry Pearl, president of Jockeys and Jeans. “This promises to be a year of recovery for our nation, horse racing and its permanently disabled jockeys.

“Our event will present a unique opportunity to pay homage to racing's fallen heroes as well as our nation's 9/11 heroes. To do both at a single racing-related event is personally humbling and should make all in racing proud.”

The event's organizing committee is working with several New York-based 9/11 organizations to have first responders attend the event and be honored.

“We plan to make a donation to an appropriate charity that helps these brave men and women and the families of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice,” said Pearl.

Among the Hall of Fame riders slated to attend are Braulio Baeza, Bill Boland, Angel Cordero, Jr., Pat Day, Ramon Dominguez, Earlie Fires, Eddie Maple, Chris McCarron, Craig Perret, Don Pierce, Laffit Pincay, Jr., Jose Santos, Alex Solis, Jacinto Vasquez, Jorge Velasquez, Bobby Ussery and committee member Sandy Hawley. Also scheduled to attend are jockeys who suffered career-ending injuries, including Dennis Collins, Joe Hayes, Armando Rivera, Mike Straight, Ann Van Rosen, Sidney Underwood and committee member Roger Blanco.

The event begins in Monmouth Park's Turf Club at 11:30 a.m. Tickets cost $75 and may be purchased at seatgeek.com/monmouth. There will be a silent auction of racing-related memorabilia and autograph sessions throughout the day.

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