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Doping Trial Likely to Get Pushed into 2022

Prosecutors in the federal case against alleged dopers Jorge Navarro, Jason Servis and 12 other defendants told the judge Friday they had no objection to the granting of yet another extension so defense attorneys can sift through the voluminous amount of evidence against their clients, a move that will likely push back the start of the long-awaited trial until 2022 at the earliest.

The May 7 letter from acting United States Attorney Audrey Strauss to U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil was filed fewer than 24 hours after defense attorneys filed their own, separate letter with the court signaling an intent to ask the judge to recuse herself from the case over alleged prejudices.

At deadline for this story, that official “Motion to Recuse” had not yet been filed, nor had the judge's purported conflicts been disclosed. But those separate letters from the defense and the prosecutors stem from discussions the parties had during a May 6 conference call, and all signs now point to the trial not starting until the two-year anniversary of the Mar. 9, 2020, arrests looms within sight.

Defense attorneys were already granted one extension two months ago to file motions to suppress evidence, which involves a massive batch of discovery documentation including transcripts of potentially incriminating phone recordings, emails and text messages.

The 14 defendants have all been implicated to various degrees in the alleged conspiracy to manufacture, mislabel, distribute and administer performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) to Thoroughbreds and Standardbreds across America and in international races.

Strauss's letter outlined a proposed timetable that would give the defense one additional month, until Aug. 27, to review and/or object to the evidence, with 90 days tacked on beyond that date to accommodate time for the prosecution to respond and for the defense to offer a standard final reply.

“The parties further conferred on the matter of expert disclosures and timing for any motions relating to the preclusion of proposed experts,” Strauss wrote. “The Government has to date identified two experts and provided summary reports relating to their anticipated testimony. No defense experts have yet been identified…Representatives of the defense have asked that deadlines for expert disclosures [be] set at the subsequent conference to be held in the Fall of 2021.”

The last status conference in the case was held in November; the next one is coming up May 14.

Servis (who transformed Maximum Security from a $16,000 maiden-claimer into a MGISW star during the time the feds collected evidence on his alleged stable-wide doping practices) and Navarro (whom the government allegedly has on tape boasting about dosing elite-level sprinter X Y Jet “with 50 injections” of PEDs prior to a win in the 2019 G1 Golden Shaheen in Dubai) are the two now-barred trainers headlining the case.

The 12 other defendants are drug manufacturers, distributors, stable employees, and veterinarians allegedly involved to various degrees in the five counts listed in the indictment. They are: Erica Garcia, Christopher Oakes, Michael Tannuzzo, Marcos Zulueta, Rebecca Linke, Kristian Rhein, Michael Kegley, Jr., Alexander Chan, Seth Fishman, Jordan Fishman, Lisa Giannelli, and Rick Dane, Jr.

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Del Mar’s ‘Ship & Win’ Program Expanded

Santa Anita Park and the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club have joined forces to expand upon Del Mar's “Ship & Win” program as out-of-state horses, who make their first California-based starts in May and June at Santa Anita, will still be eligible for Del Mar's purse incentives, beginning with their Summer Meet opener July 16. Effective May 1, out-of-state horses can start up to twice at Santa Anita through closing day of the current 2021 Winter/Spring Meet June 20 and still be eligible for Del Mar's Ship & Win program bonuses.

“This is a great enticement to out-of-state owners and horsemen to bring their horses here in advance of Del Mar,” said Santa Anita Director of Racing and Racing Secretary Chris Merz. “People around the country know Santa Anita and Del Mar provide world class training and racing opportunities. We've very happy the folks at Del Mar and with the Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC) recognize the importance of this comprehensive approach to attracting new horses.”

Merz added that any new horses participating in the Del Mar 'Ship & Win' program will also be eligible for the Santa Anita Sunshine Bonus, which will again be offered at the track's upcoming Autumn Meet, which opens Oct. 1.

For additional information, call the Santa Anita Racing Office at (626) 574-6452.

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Woodbine Pop-Up Vaccine Clinic Extended

Woodbine Entertainment announced the pop-up COVID-19 vaccine clinic at Woodbine Racetrack will continue to operate Monday, May 10. Located in a 'hot spot' community, the clinic will continue to serve the Rexdale Community through the weekend, beginning each day from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. or until supply runs out. Entry is through Gate 10 and free parking is available.

The vaccination clinic, which is supported by the North Etobicoke Community Cluster Partners, is open to first priority of individuals 18 years and older in 2021 who live or work in 'hot spot' communities in M9R, M9V and M9W. Other eligible groups are any individuals 18 years and older in 2021 who live in Toronto 'hot spot' postal codes. The clinic is also open to frontline essential workers who provide daily care to the horses stabled at Woodbine Racetrack. A health card and proof of address, such as driver's license or piece of mail, are recommended, however, a health card or OHIP are not required to get vaccinated.

All residents and volunteers will be required to wear a face mask and follow all COVID-19 Prevention Protocols while on property.

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Prognosis Good as Research Grows on New Cause of Foal Diarrhea

Only weeks after making the preliminary identification that an entirely new rotavirus is responsible for the spate of diarrhea cases afflicting just-born foals this spring, researchers at the University of Kentucky's Maxwell H. Gluck Equine Research Center and the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory are in the process of fine-tuning a just-developed assay to differentiate this emerging threat from the better-recognized Rotavirus A first detected three decades ago.

This new strain has been dubbed Rotavirus B, and Dr. David Horohov, Gluck's director and the chairperson of the school's Department of Veterinary Science, told TDN Friday it is “likely, if not entirely, the cause for all the diarrheas we've been seeing.”

Horohov added that the prognosis is generally good for foals who have suffered through this new form of rotavirus during the first two to 14 days of their lives.

“Once you get the foal through the rough spot where it's having these difficulties, you can expect a sort of normal recovery and then normal growth by the foal,” Horohov said in a May 7 phone interview.

When diarrhea cases began mounting at central Kentucky's Thoroughbred farms in March, the Gluck team began to mobilize to better understand the extent and scope of this health threat, utilizing emergency funding to do so while also receiving financial support from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Foundation, the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation, and Coolmore America.

Horohov said the initial identification was made by using a DNA sequencing technique called metagenomic analysis, which involves taking pool samples from numerous foals with diarrhea and examining the many genomes that are present to see if something familiar or different can be discerned. In this case, it was quickly determined that there was something genetically novel present.

The Gluck's diagnostic lab researchers then got to work, and within several weeks had developed a polymerase chain reaction test that would enable them to look at individual samples to determine if the new virus was present there.

“They've been sort of troubleshooting the assay and making it work, and right now we do have an assay that will allow us to identify the Rotavirus B,” Horohov said. “And it will differentiate it from the Rotavirus A so we know we're looking at the novel rotavirus.”

Horohov said that in preliminary studies of 43 individual samples collected from foals with a presumptive diagnosis of rotavirus-related diarrhea, 42 came back positive for Rotavirus B and the lone outlier was indeterminate.

“So it looks like the test is, in fact, accurate,” Horohov said. “They are doing some subsequent testing against known negatives and some other samples to make sure that it is exactly what we think it is. But based on that preliminary data, looking at a collection of samples from different farms, all of them foals with the same basic pattern, it's pretty clear that this is indeed the Rotavirus B that we are dealing with.”

As for the extent and trajectory of Rotavirus B in Kentucky right now, Horohov said that's difficult to pinpoint.

“We're having a relatively limited view of that right now because we're really only working with selected farms [that are providing the samples],” Horohov said. “We're not getting large numbers of samples coming into the diagnostic labs since the test isn't ready yet for use by the public, [so] we don't really have a way to monitor that.

“[But] word of mouth is that again, it's showing the pattern we saw before, where some farms were having a significant problem with it whereas other farms were either having minimal problems or, more importantly, those that took the steps to increase their biosecurity-including things like having the foals born outside and minimal handling of the foals-seem to have gotten a better handle on this,” Horohov said.

“There seems to be more control going on than there was [at the start of the outbreak],” Horohov said. “A lot of the farms, fortunately, seem to have found ways to reduce the problem.”

Horohov said the Gluck researchers also looked at whether the diarrhea outbreak might have been caused by a bacterial problem, but that “all of the data that we have right now indicates that is not the primary cause of this.”

Horohov said that the concern with Rotavirus B is “typical of any diarrheal disease. There's fluid loss associated with that. There's also a loss of ions. So the foals, particularly given their young age, rapidly become metabolically challenged by this. As a result of that, the therapy that's given to them is primarily supportive, and typically it's quite successful.”

Horohov summed up: “This is similar to what we saw originally when the Rotavirus A variant first appeared. We were seeing that going back into the 1990s. As long as you get the foals through this period and you replace that fluid loss and keep your ions in check, normally they come out of it okay. There is always a risk that you may have secondary issues that occur, [but] certainly these foals will be watched carefully to make sure none of those issues show up.”

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