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Navarro Enters Guilty Plea To One Count Of Drug Adulteration And Misbranding Conspiracy

Disgraced trainer Jorge Navarro withdrew his plea of not guilty to two felony charges of drug adulteration and misbranding conspiracy on Aug. 11 and entered a guilty plea to one charge of the same offense. In a video conference before District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil, Navarro admitted he administered and directed others to administer non-Food and Drug Administration approved misbranded and/or adulterated drugs to improve the performance of racehorses under his care. He also said he took specific actions to avoid detection of those drugs, including using drugs he believed were not testable and working with veterinarians to falsify bills sent to owners, hiding the administration of illegal drugs.

At Wednesday's hearing, Navarro admitted he administered illegal medications to racehorses between 2016 and March 2020, including top runners X Y Jet, War Story, Shancelot, Sharp Azteca, and Nanoosh. Specifically, he admitted that he gave X Y Jet “blood building” substances before an allowance optional claiming race on Feb. 13, 2019, at Gulfstream Park and the Group 1 Dubai Golden Shaheen.

X Y Jet died suddenly in January 2020, at which point he had earned over $3 million. Navarro said at the time the horse was “part of my family.”

Additionally, Navarro admitted he gave bronchodilators to co-defendant Jason Servis. Servis recently filed a motion seeking to have wiretaps taken by the FBI suppressed on the basis that the federal agency was misleading at the time of its application for those wiretaps.

Navarro said he shipped a blood doping agent from his home in Florida to co-defendant Michael Tannuzzo in New Jersey, and also that he gave drugs to co-defendant Marcos Zulueta. When asked whether he provided drugs to other trainers, Navarro paused and said, “I don't recall” before saying he had provided bronchodilators to Servis.

The misbranded or adulterated substances included blood doping agents, vasodilators, misbranded bronchodilators, “bleeder pills” and SGF-1000, according to Navarro. The blood doping agents were produced by Seth Fishman and Gregory Skelton, per Navarro. Some of the substances, he said, were shipped in from outside the United States, including Panama and the Dominican Republic. Navarro did not clarify which substances originated outside the U.S.

Had the case proceeded to trial, prosecutors revealed they had a recording of a phone conversation between Navarro and an unidentified owner of Nanoosh made in May 2019 in which Navarro and the owner agreed to continue giving the horse illegal drugs in hopes of improving his performance. Nanoosh, who was owned in partnership between Zayat Stables, Rockingham Ranch, and David A. Bernsen, was the winner of the Zia Park Derby. In May 2019 he finished sixth in the G3 Salvator Mile and would later be third in his final career start in an allowance optional claiming race.

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Vyskocil did not sentence Navarro at the Aug. 11 hearing but did outline the parameters of the sentencing guidelines that he agreed to in his plea deal with prosecutors. According to statute, the charge he pleaded guilty to comes with a maximum prison sentence of five years, and that was the maximum outlined in the sentencing guidelines. However, Vyskocil made it clear that she could choose to assign penalties beyond the sentencing guidelines and this would not empower Navarro to withdraw his plea.

Navarro could also face a period of supervised release after serving his prison sentence, and that release may come with a number of conditions. Violation of those conditions would result in Navarro going back to prison with no credit for time served on supervised release.

There are a number of elements to Navarro's crimes which had suggested a longer sentence in federal prison. The government uses a formula to help suggest a possible sentence depending on aggravating or mitigating factors, and the elements of Navarro's crime could have escalated his prison sentence to 14 to 17.5 years, but Vyskocil said the maximum allowed by statute was five, and that's what was written into the agreement Navarro signed with prosecutors. Aggravating factors or “enhancements” in Navarro's case included his use of “sophisticated means” to conceal his crimes, his abuse of public trust, and his role as an organizer of the conspiracy.

Federal prison sentences, according to Vyskocil, require that at least 85 percent of the sentence be served; although a prisoner may have the sentence shortened slightly for good behavior, they are not eligible for parole.

There are also likely to be financial penalties to Navarro as a result of his plea. He agreed he will be subject to a fine ranging from $40,000 to $400,000. He has also agreed to forfeit $70,000, and is further on the hook for $25,860,514 in restitution payments. The latter amount represents the amount of purse money won by Navarro's horses as a result of his crime. As with fellow defendant Dr. Kristian Rhein, prosecutors will provide a list of victims of the crime at the time of sentencing, which is scheduled to take place in December.

Vyskocil also noted that Navarro may face additional consequences to his guilty plea as a result of his immigration status. Navarro, 46, is not a citizen of the U.S. but is a citizen of Panama. Vyskocil said immigration authorities could choose to detain or deport him at the conclusion of his prison sentence.

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Multi-Millionaire War Story Arrives At Old Friends For Retirement

Old Friends, the Thoroughbred Retirement farm based in Georgetown, Ky., announced Tuesday the arrival of multiple graded stakes winner War Story.

After a six-year career, the Kentucky-bred son Northern Afleet, now 8, has been pensioned by owners Imaginary Stables and Glenn Ellis. The gelding's last start was the Grade 2 Charles Town Classic in August.

War Story broke his maiden first time out in 2014 in a maiden special weight at Churchill Downs. He has earned seven victories in all, including the G2 Brooklyn Invitational Stakes at Belmont Park, the G3 Monmouth Cup Stakes at Monmouth Park, and the G3 Harlan's Holiday Stakes at Gulfstream.

The game chestnut never shied from top competition, however, facing eventual Triple Crown winner American Pharoah in the 2015 Kentucky Derby and again in the Breeders' Cup Classic, California Chrome in the 2016 Pacific Classic, and Arrogate in the 2017 Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes.

War Story has raced coast-to-coast, from Saratoga to Santa Anita, making 40 starts in all earning eight wins, seven seconds and six thirds for total career earnings of $3,271,996.

“He is such a special horse,” said co-owner Ellis. “He could run any distance, he just never gave up, and he could do anything. I'm so happy now,” he added, “because he can just live a happy life and he's earned it.”

“I love War Story,” said Old Friends's founder and President Michael Blowen. “He always tried. I even loved him as a handicapper because he often filled out my trifectas and superfectas at a nice price. But nothing compares to feeding him mints and carrots every day. He's absolutely adorable.”

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Math Wizard Tops Overflow Field For Friday Night’s Charles Town Classic

An overflow field of ten runners, led by Grade 1 winner Math Wizard will take to the gate on Friday night at Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races as the track hosts its premier event of the season – the rescheduled $600,000 Charles Town Classic (G2) for older horses going the three-turn distance of 1 1/8 miles. West Virginia's most lucrative race highlights a card that includes seven stakes with purses totalling $1.25 million and marks the first time the track has held two graded events on the same day. Post time for the first race on the card is 5:00pm EST.

After following up his signature win in the 2019 Pennsylvania Derby (G1) with a fifth-place effort in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1), the Saffie Joseph trained Math Wizard spent some time on the sidelines before a return to the races produced a subpar performance in the Razorback (G3) at Oaklawn Park in February. After the ongoing Covid pandemic threw Math Wizard's schedule up in the air, he spent another four months away from the races, resurfacing in a handicap at Gulfstream Park where he checked in fifth beaten 3 3/4 lengths.

However, in his last start on Haskell day in the Monmouth Cup, Math Wizard signaled a potential return to form when he closed well to finish second, beaten 1 1/2-lengths for the top spot by Global Campaign. Since his effort at Monmouth, the son of Algorithms has flourished in his training up at Saratoga and his conditioner thought the lucrative Classic was a race that suited his colt well.

“He ran one of the best races of his life last time out according to the numbers, and he's been training great coming out of it,” said the native of Barbados who will saddle his first ever starters at Charles Town on Friday. “I think he's going to continue to progress and take another step forward on Friday.”

While Joseph has enjoyed a couple of breakout years as a trainer with 2020 Kentucky Derby (G1) contender Ny Traffic, multiple stakes winner Chance it and multiple graded stakes winner and 2020 Charles Town Oaks starter Tonalist's Shape, it's still his lone Grade 1 winner to date that he credits for getting the ball rolling in his stable's quest to join the sport's upper echelon.

“I think when we look back in 15 or 20 or however many years, we'll say that Math Wizard will be the horse that put us on the map. He's just an incredibly special horse to us and always will be.”

This Friday evening, Math Wizard will have the services of jockey Christian Hiraldo as he breaks from Post 4 as the 3-to-1 favorite.

Back for another run in the Charles Town Classic is Imaginary Stables and Glenn K. Ellis' War Story, the eight-year-old gelding who was last seen finishing third in the Pegasus World Cup (G1) at Gulfstream Park earlier this year. With his start in the Classic on Friday night, War Story will join two-time winner Imperative as the only horses to make four starts in Charles Town's marquee race and the son of Northern Afleet has come tantalizingly close to adding a Charles Town Classic score to his resume which already includes three graded stakes victories and earnings of more than $3.2 million.

Now trained by Elizabeth Dobles, War Story has checked in third in both the 2017 and 2019 runnings and second in 2018, a fact that led his connections to target this race after a trip to Dubai earlier in 2020 fell through.

The handicap division veteran has shown few signs of slowing down over the past two years taking graded stakes at both Monmouth Park in the 2019 Monmouth Cup (G3) and Gulfstream Park in the Harlan's Holiday (G3) prior to his run behind Mucho Gusto and Mr. Freeze in the Pegasus.

War Story will have his fourth different rider in the Charles Town Classic as J.D. Acosta jumps on board the 4-to-1 second choice.

Much like his fellow Charles Town Classic runner Math Wizard, Allied Racing Stable LLC and Spendthrift Farm LLC's Mr. Money is looking to recapture the 2019 form that eventually saw him sent off as the third choice in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) behind the likes of Omaha Beach and Improbable.

After stringing together a four race winning streak in a quartet of Grade 3 events as a three-year-old, including the West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer, the Bret Calhoun trainee came within a neck of becoming a Grade 1 winner when he was caught in the final strides of the Pennsylvania Derby by his rival on Friday night. When he emerged after five months on the sidelines, Mr. Money caught a wet track – as well as Tom's d'Etat and Improbable – in the Oaklawn Mile and followed that up with a wide trip that resulted in a fourth place finish in the Blame at Churchill before only mustering a sixth place effort in a cutback to 6 1/2 furlongs at Keeneland in his most recent outing.

In the Charles Town Classic, Mr. Money stretches back out to a distance that seems more to his liking but, either way, his trainer isn't concerned about what he's seen thus far in 2020.

“He had a great year last year and has had a rocky start to this year, but it's not really his doing,” said Calhoun. “He caught a sloppy track that he didn't like at Oaklawn. I thought he ran a pretty good race in the Blame at Churchill with a really wide trip. Then we got stuck without a spot with so many races getting canceled. So we ran him in that race at Keeneland and 61/2 furlongs is not his deal. So it really hasn't been his fault. He's trained forwardly all along and we're looking forward to getting him back on track this Friday.”

Gerald Almodovar rides Mr. Money who breaks from Post 6.

Winchell Thoroughbreds' Tenfold is himself out to recapture some past form and find the winners' circle for the first time since the 2019 Pimlico Special (G3) and provide trainer Steve Asmussen with a win in his first Charles Town Classic.

Third, beaten less than a length by Justify, in the 2018 Preakness (G1) and a winner of the Jim Dandy (G2) later in his three-year-old season, the Winchell Thoroughbreds homebred eclipsed the $1 million mark in career earnings earlier this year and is looking to rebound from a third place finish in the Hollywood Gold Cup (G1) in June.

While Tenfold marks Asmussen's first Charles Town Classic runner, he's developed a solid record over the years at Charles Town with 6 wins from 14 stakes outings, a run that started with Rock Slide back in the 1987 West Virginia Lottery Breeders' Classic.

Luis Batista rides Tenfold who stands at 5-to-1 on the morning line.

2019 Charles Town hero Runnin'toluvya is back to defend his crown and will seek to do what Duke of Mischief, Game on Dude, Imperative, Stanford and Something Awesome could not do – join Researcher as the only back-to-back winner of the Charles Town Classic.

In 2019, the West Virginia-bred son of Fiber Sonde entered the race red hot after stringing together eight consecutive wins over the Charles Town oval. 2020 will be a bit of a different story, however, as the popular gelding has dropped four of his last five decisions and comes into the race without a start since May 30.

However, neither his recent record nor the layoff is of great concern for Runnin'toluvya's trainer Tim Grams who also owns the six-year-old along with his wife, Judy.

“He's doing really good. I breezed him last week, and he did it handily. It's going to be a tough race, but we're going in without hesitation because of how well he's doing. It was an unfortunate trip last time out. You know, it's hard even for the really good ones to have to start and stop three or four times like he did. Obviously for my peace of mind I would like to be coming in off of a good race, but that was the hand we were dealt.”

As for the layoff, Friday will mark the fifth time Runnin'toluvya has started off a layoff of at least 90 days in his career, with the prior four outings resulting in three wins and a runner-up finish. Even without a race since the end of May, Grams has kept his stable star sharp and ready for his bid at a Classic repeat.

“I felt like last year, we had him in training without a race to point towards and he got a little dull. But this year he's been staying a lot sharper and he's fit. We'll just have to see how it goes. I just hope he breaks clean and gets a good position in the clear so that when it's time to run, he can run.”

Antonio Lopez has the call on Runnin'toluvya in the Charles Town Classic.

Another Charles Town Classic entrant looking to find the winner's circle once again is the well-traveled Multiplier, who came up just a neck short of posting an upset in the Santa Anita Handicap (G1) earlier this year but has gone more than two years without a victory despite banking north of $500,000 in his career.

A winner of the Illinois Derby (G3) back in 2017, Multiplier was most recently seen knocking heads with divisional heavyweights Tom's d'Etat and By My Standards in the Stephen Foster (G2) – a race where the now six-year-old finished fourth, beaten eight lengths. Despite Multiplier only being trainer Peter Miller's second ever starter over the Charles Town oval, there was a familiarity with some of the track's leading connections that made the trip to West Virginia more appealing.

“We're excited and the horse is doing great,” said the California based Miller. “He's been training up at Monmouth and doing really well over there. We've got the top rider [Arnaldo Bocachica] which is good and he'll go to [Jeff] Runco's barn for the week. I have worked with Jeff for a while and he's great. So we'll just hope for a good trip. We're looking forward to it.”

As Miller alluded to, Multiplier will have the services of Charles Town's leading rider, Arnaldo Bocachica on Friday night and will break from Post 10.

Plus Que Parfait, winner of the 2019 UAE Derby (G2) in Dubai, Sleepy Eyes Todd, and Ohio-breds Forewarned and Mo Dont No complete the body of the Charles Town Classic field with Awesome D J on the also-eligible list.

Post time for the Charles Town Classic is set for 10:18 PM EST and the race can be seen on TVG as well as heard on the Horse Racing Radio Network. The Classic will be the penultimate race in the Charles Town 6-12 sequence – a Pick 6 with a low 12% takeout – that sports a mandatory of the carryover on Classic day with a total of $111,750 in the carryover going into the track's Thursday night card.

$600,000 CHARLES TOWN CLASSIC (G2)
August 28, 2020
Race 11 – Post time 10:18 PM EST
3&up, 1 1/8 Miles
PP. Horse, Jockey, Weight, Trainer
1. Forewarned, Sunday Diaz, Jr., 118, Uriah St. Lewis
2. Tenfold, Luis A. Batista, 118, Steven M. Asmussen
3. Mo Dont No, Wesley Ho, 118, Jeffrey A. Radosevich
4. Math Wizard, Christian Hiraldo, 118, Saffie A. Joseph, Jr.
5. Runnin'toluvya, Antonio Lopez, 118, Timothy C. Grams
6. Mr. Money, Gerald Almodovar, 118, W. Bret Calhoun
7. Sleepy Eyes Todd, Open, 118, Miguel Angel Silva
8. Plus Que Parfait, Reshawn Latchman, 118, Brendan P. Walsh
9. War Story, J.D. Acosta, 118, Elizabeth L. Dobles
10. Multiplier, Arnaldo Bocachica, 118, Peter Miller
Also Eligible
11. Awesome D J, Fredy Peltroche, 118, Jose Corrales

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