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FBI Raids at Calder and Palm Meadows
Per Ray Paulick on twitter. Lots of rumors circulating but will be interesting to see what happens as the story develops.
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Another tweet indicated that somebody may have been arrested or, at least, taken away.
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11 AM Press conference: " announce charges against 27 people in the professional horse racing industry (including vets and trainers) in a scheme to allegedly illegally dope racehorses."
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Navarro is reportedly among those charged.
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https://twitter.com/Tom_Winter/statu...843222534?s=20
Federal prosecutors charge Navarro with giving misbranded PED’s to XY Jet before wins in Florida and Dubai last year. The same XY Jet that died of a heart attack this year. |
https://www.thoroughbreddailynews.co...Up5BPJ.twitter
Jason Servis and Navarro the big names. Servis allegedly giving PED called SGF-1000 to virtually all of his horses. I know I’m shocked :rolleyes: |
Must be an issue with the feed for Navarro and Servis.
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Saez
Question. If Maximum Security has Saudi World Cup purse money taken away, does Saez blow that $1 million ? He must be sick. His agent blows his $300 K end too . I wonder if they got paid yet.
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Wow, that would be something!
Max could really set a world record if he gets another DQ......oh my!:zz: Give the horse a special note in history..... .................................................. .......* |
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Servis, Navarro among 27 alleged by government to have administered illegal medications to horses
By Matt Hegarty Federal prosecutors in New York on Monday unsealed indictments accusing 27 individuals, including the high-percentage trainers Jorge Navarro and Jason Servis, of administering illegal medications to racehorses. One of the racehorses named in the indictment as receiving an illegal medication is Maximum Security, the champion 3-year-old of 2019 and first under the line in last year’s Kentucky Derby. The indictments, which were brought by the District Attorney for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan, accuse the individuals of participating in vast schemes to administer the substances and conceal the use of the compounds, which were obtained through internet pharmacies and veterinary practices, according to the indictments. The indictments specifically reference the administration of a substance similar to Epogen, a trade name for the blood-building drug erythropoietin, to harness horses trained by Nicholas Surick and other Standardbred trainers, as well as the use of several other manufactured substances in horses trained by Servis and Navarro. “These customized drugs were designed to be undetectable to normal testing protocols,” said Geoffrey Berman, the U.S. District Attorney for the Southern District of New York, at a press conference on Monday. He characterized the substances “as illegal and dangerous to horses.” Both Navarro, 45, and Servis, 62, were arrested on Monday morning, law-enforcement officials said, as investigators from the FBI descended on their barns for exhaustive searches. The arrests and release of the indictments shook the racing world to its foundation on Monday morning. Both Navarro and Servis have run up extraordinary win rates over their careers, and rumors about illegal drug use has dogged both trainers for years, in large part because both are remarkably skilled at turning claiming horses into stakes runners. The accusations come at a time when the racing world is attempting to counter criticism that the sport is not doing enough to protect its athletes, based on a spate of deaths at Santa Anita last year. As such, the revelations in the indictment are likely to lead to renewed calls for stricter regulation of the sport. The indictment states that Servis administered an “illegal” medication called SGF-1000 to Maximum Security in advance of the Pegasus Stakes on June 16 at Monmouth Park. According to the indictment, New Jersey regulators pulled an out-of-competition sample from the horse “on or about June 5” but did not detect the substance, which is available at some internet pharmacies and is currently marketed as a substance composed of amino acids “to promote rejuvenation and recovery from training.” The indictment further states that Servis directed a veterinarian, who is not named, “to falsify records to make it appear as if the racehorse had received ‘Dex,’ rather than SGF-1000.” The shorthand is likely to refer to dexamethasone, a regulated corticosteroid that reduces inflammation. Maximum Security on Feb. 29 won the inaugural Saudi Cup, a race with a purse of $20 million. Most famously, Maximum Security crossed the wire first in the 2019 Kentucky Derby but was disqualified from first for interference and placed 17th. The indictment claims that the substance was obtained from Kristian Rhein, who has a veterinary practice at Belmont Park, and Alexander Chan. The indictment says that the two have “engaged in efforts to secretly distribute and administer adulterated and misbranded [performance-enhancing drugs] and to counsel racehorse trainers and/or owners on the use of such substances.” In Navarro’s case, the indictment alleges the administration of illegal substances marketed as pain blockers to X Y Jet on several instances in 2019, including prior to the horse’s start in an allowance race on Feb. 13 at Gulfstream Park in Florida and again while in Dubai for the Golden Shaheen Stakes later that year. X Y Jet won both races. He died earlier this year of an apparent heart attack at the age of 8. The indictment includes intercepted phone calls and texts from Navarro to various other individuals named in the indictment, including Servis. In one of the intercepted calls between Servis and Navarro, Servis is quoted as saying that he has been using SGF-1000 “on everything almost,” according to the indictment. Navarro then cuts Servis off and says “Jay, we’ll sit down and talk about this [expletive]. I don’t want to talk about this [expletive] on the phone.” According to the indictment, both Servis and Navarro procured SGF-1000 from Medivet Equine in Kentucky, and it accuses the company’s co-founder Mike Kegley of conspiring with the trainers and veterinarians to mislabel shipments of the substance, which is not regulated by the FDA, across state lines. SGF-1000 was analyzed by racing regulators in 2014 and found to contain no known performance-enhancing ingredients, according to Dr. Mary Scollay, the executive director of the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium, which is funded by the racing industry. However, Scollay cautioned that the substance could have had its formula changed in the ensuing years. She also reiterated that many internet pharmacies make unsubstantiated claims routinely for substances that are not known to have any efficacy. In the case of SGF-1000, the main ingredient was “I think, sheep collagen,” Scollay recollected. That substance and others like it that are ingredients in similar products would not trigger a positive in drug tests because the substances do not have a known pharmacological effect and are therefore left off drug screenings. While Scollay said she was not commenting directly on the allegations in the indictment, she also said that regulation of substances that do not contain known performance-enhancing agents is still problematic. “It’s clear that people are using it because they think it gives them an advantage, and if they used it with the goal of it being a performance enhancer, then that’s a problem, regardless of what the effects are,” Scollay said. Dr. Scott Stanley, a professor of analytical chemistry at the University of Kentucky’s Gluck Equine Research Center, performed the analysis of SGF-1000 while at the University of California-Davis. He said he could not comment on his characterization of the substance based on that analysis because he has already been contacted to provide testimony as part of the case. Stanley did say that the formulation of the substance could have changed “multiple times” since the analysis was conducted six years ago. “None of those things are regulated by the FDA,” Stanley said. “So because they are not approved products, there’s nothing stopping them from changing it frequently.” The indictment also charges the New Jersey harness trainer Nicholas Surick with administering the blood-doping drug Epogen, and alleges that he concealed a horse that had been administered the drug from New Jersey regulators when they attempted to pull an out-of-competition sample from the horse in mid-2018. Surick, 31, is second in the nation in wins this year, as he was last year. Three other harness trainers were named in a separate indictment. An indictment separate from both of those two indictments accuses the operators of the notorious internet pharmacy horseprerace.com of selling “millions of dollars’ worth of various misbranded and adulterated PEDs to customers across the United States and abroad.” The owners named in the indictment are Scott Robinson and Scott Mangini. As was the case with SGF-1000, racing regulators in the past have tested products offered for sale at the pharmacy and found that the claims for the products were deeply misleading. The indictment states that the FBI and FDA conducted a “judicially authorized search of a PED manufacturing facility” operated by Robinson on Sept. 30, 2019, and that the agents conducting the search “seized misbranded and adulterated PEDs, chemicals, and electronic equipment.” An additional indictment accuses Sarah Izhaki and her daughter Ashley Lebowitz of selling substances characterized as masking agents and an “adulterated and misbranded version of the drug erythropoietin” to undercover operatives posing as racehorse trainers and racehorse owners. The indictment quotes Izhaki as saying that one of the substances, referred to as “The Devil,” is “something very new, you put it in the horse, you can use coke: it will come back negative.” At Palm Meadows in Boynton Beach, Fla., all was quiet by late morning in and around Navarro’s Barn 32 and Servis’s Barn 18 as stablehands caught up on their chores. That was in stark contrast to the wee hours of Monday, said several neighboring trainers and their assistants. One assistant said she arrived for work at 4 a.m., and “I saw that already both barns were surrounded by five or six SUVs with the blue lights flashing and everything barricaded. It was pretty surreal.” Training was not halted, however, for those not involved in the raids. One trainer said he was “riding in my golf cart on the path next to Navarro’s barn and asked if I could pass and train my horses, and they said go ahead.” As of Monday afternoon, Servis had three horses entered for Friday’s card at Aqueduct in New York, but those horses are expected to be scratched. Owners of horses trained by Servis and another New York-based trainer named in the indictment, Mike Tannuzzo, are expected to have to make arrangements to move their horses to other trainers in the wake of the indictments, which will likely lead to summary suspensions from racing commissions. Servis’s assistant Henry Argueta is also named in one of the indictments. NYRA, the operator of Aqueduct, indicated on Monday that all of those named in the indictment would be barred from the grounds regardless of any action taken by racing commission. “There is absolutely no place in our sport for those who would administer illegal or banned substances to racehorse under their care,” said Pat McKenna, a spokesman for NYRA. The Stronach Group, which owns Gulfstream, Santa Anita, Golden Gate Fields, Laurel and Pimlico, also said it would scratch any horses entered by those named in the indictment. – additional reporting by David Grening, Marty McGee, Mike Welsch |
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sport...wpisrc=nl_most
The Washington Post story has much the same info. But it has this extra bit: In an intercepted telephone call recorded on Feb. 1, 2019, Surick implicated Navarro in a conversation with defendant Michael Tannuzzo, saying that Navarro secretly disposed of the bodies of horses that had died under his care. “You know how many f----- horses [Navarro] f------ killed and broke down that I made disappear?” Surick allegedly said. “You know how much trouble he could get in … if they found out … the six horses we killed.” |
Horses trained by indicted horsemen Servis, Tannuzzo must be sent to other trainers
By David Grening OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Owners who have horses based in New York with trainers Jason Servis and Mike Tannuzzo will have to make arrangements to move their stock to other trainers in the wake of the indictments handed down Monday by the District Attorney for the Southern District of New York, accusing both horsemen with participating in a scheme to administer illegal medications to horses. As of early Monday afternoon, the New York State Gaming Commission had not made an official determination on the trainer’s licenses held by Servis and Tannuzzo. But, Brad Maione, a spokesman for the commission, said that when “a trainer is ruled off the grounds or suspended there are arrangements made for someone to be tasked with taking care of his or her horses.” Pat McKenna, a spokesman for the New York Racing Association, said early Monday afternoon that NYRA is “engaged in active dialogue with the New York State Gaming Commission to make a determination to how to responsibly care for the horses that were under the care of Jason Servis and Mike Tannuzzo.” Servis, who is the third-leading trainer at the Aqueduct with 14 wins and $1.16 million in purse money won, has three horses entered on Friday’s Aqueduct card. They are expected to have to scratch. Henry Argueta, the longtime assistant to Servis, was also named in the indictment. Tannuzzo, with a considerably smaller stable than Servis, has five wins from 24 starters. While Servis and trainer Jorge Navarro were indicted for allegedly administering illegal drugs to their horses, Tannuzzo was indicted for assisting Navarro with “obtaining, shipping, and administering misbranded and adulterated PEDs for Navarro’s benefit,” according to the indictment. “There is absolutely no place in our sport for those would administer illegal or banned substances to racehorses under their care,” McKenna said. “The New York Racing Association is committed to preserving and protecting the integrity of the sport and the safety of the equine and human athletes who compete at our tracks. We will continue to work closely with the New York State Gaming Commission and our industry partners across the country to advance meaningful reforms that protect the future of Thoroughbred horse racing.” Ron Lombardi, a horse owner who races under Mr. Amore Stable, has had horses with Servis since 2007. He currently has 15 horses with Servis, including the Grade 1 winner Firenze Fire. “Right now I’m in total shock,” he said Monday. “I’m trying to gather more information. I know it’s not looking good. I’m trying to sort through everything right now and figure out what I need to do. Lombardi, who also has horses with Kelly Breen, is hoping to run Firenze Fire in the Grade 1 Carter at Aqueduct on April 4. Attempts to reach Michael Dubb, who owns several horses with Servis, and Gary West, the owner of the Servis-trained Maximum Security, were unsuccessful as of 2 p.m. Eastern Monday. |
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plausible_deniability Plausible Deniability Plausible deniability is the ability of people (typically senior officials in a formal or informal chain of command) to deny knowledge of or responsibility for any damnable actions committed by others in an organizational hierarchy because of a lack of evidence that can confirm their participation, even if they were personally involved in or at least willfully ignorant of the actions. In the case that illegal or otherwise disreputable and unpopular activities become public, high-ranking officials may deny any awareness of such acts to insulate themselves and shift blame onto the agents who carried out the acts, as they are confident that their doubters will be unable to prove otherwise. The lack of evidence to the contrary ostensibly makes the denial plausible; that is, credible, although sometimes it merely makes it unactionable. The term typically implies forethought, such as intentionally setting up the conditions to plausibly avoid responsibility for one's (future) actions or knowledge. In some organizations, legal doctrines such as command responsibility exist to hold major parties responsible for the actions of subordinates involved in heinous acts and nullify any legal protection that their denial of involvement would carry. |
Since Servis apparently administered SGF-1000 to practically all of his horses, does this implicate Mischevious Alex? Could we possibly see him DQ’ed from the Gotham and qualifying points redistributed?
There’s no test for the drug so that may be extremely difficult to do...but feel bad for a horse like Untitled who may have otherwise won that race and a spot in the Derby. |
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Who could have seen this coming? Except everyone that was ever remotely familiar with any horse Jason Servis or Jorge Navarro has ever trained, I mean?
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now for something completely different !!! The Dutrow case continues !!!
https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/n...ry4-story.html |
THE VET Indicted
This guy fro his bio on EmpireTB.com is a complete farce...
And his partner in Empire is Finn GReen who is in the HAY OATS & WATER Alliance. What next? Kristian Rhein, D.V.M. Kristian is a horseman who also happens to be a distinguished veterinarian. He has his own veterinary practice at Belmont Park that he started in 2015. As an Equine Racetrack Practitioner, he has worked with many top trainers and equine athletes, from Classic winners to Eclipse Award Champions. Growing up, his family ritual was to watch the Triple Crown races. Gathering around the television for the post parade, they would make their selections for the ensuing race while portraits of Triple Crown winners looked down from their walls. As Kristian grew older with an interest in veterinary medicine, he naturally gravitated toward Thoroughbred racehorses. It was Kristian’s hope that he could make a difference in the profession by assuring that theses magnificent animals had the best care and avoided injury. During summers through veterinary school at North Carolina State, Kristian pursued his passion at Overbrook Farm where he was able to be involved in all aspects of a first-class Thoroughbred farm. He worked with world-renowned veterinarians and was around legendary stallions like STORM CAT. Kristian also volunteered much of his time at Gluck Equine Research Center and equine hospitals like Rood & Riddle, Hagyard, Davis and McGee. Furthermore, Kristian completed a surgery and medicine internship at Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital (referred to as the Mayo Clinic for horses) and recieved a double certification for Equine Acupuncture from the Chi Institute, becoming a certified veterinary acupuncturist. Kristian’s passion for the racetrack took him to a job with Dr. James Hunt at Belmont Park. Not only did he work with top trainers and care for dozens of G1 winners, including INVASOR, I‘LL HAVE ANOTHER and SUPER SAVER, but he also performed sales work for those same clients at the Saratoga Yearling Sale. Watching top trainers’ equine preferences both on the racetrack and in the sales ring helped him develop a keen eye for Thoroughbred talent. |
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Servis had fifteen horses for Ron Lombardi ... how many with Mike Dubb in co-ownership ... how many with Gary West? I hope that they all will cry for those injected the same way Servis cried on national television after Maximum Security's return race. Think of all the races which might have been twisted by these garbage drugs. Can you imagine a class action lawsuit due to financial harm associated with tampering with a sports contest? |
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That the Feds are involved speaks volumes. It also means big fuukrn trouble for those involved. They can make people talk who can keep their mouth shut.
imagine what they’ll do to mental midgets . People are going downtown Chinatown when they’re through. |
I needed Spun to Run in the Cigar Mile to catch the Empire 6. Servis owes me $6,100.
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Really sad, another black mark for the sport.
In every sport, as long as there are humans involved, their will be cheaters. |
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This is the quote that makes me have a feeling of wanting to do something really, really bad to someone. But it will pass. |
I don’t want to say I told you so in regards to Maximum Security but I’m interested in hearing his more vocal fans (Knicks, SCUDS when he’s allowed to use a computer) opinion on the allegations.
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Gary West transferred Max to BB while he waits to hear Jason's side of the story.
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He had a lot of people fooled, right up until yesterday. When people questioned his move ups, they were told what a nice guy he was and that his methods were unorthodox. Horses thrived in his barn. When his winning percentage seemed too good to be true, they were told about how much he cared for the horses and how he just gave them more time than other trainers. When horses turned into pumpkins after leaving his barn and people pointed to that as potential proof, they were told horses just react differently to different methods. He even played the choir boy role to perfection. Not an easy thing to do when you know you’re pumping horses full of PED’s and thats your edge. |
Not listed as part of the 27 but how is Saffie Joseph not on this list?
Wonder how he is feeling right now. |
If you have the chance to listen live, Graham Motion is speaking with Steve Byk and is seriously attacking the industry.
It is refreshing and factual. He specifically discussed running against a fellow trainer who cannot stable in Maryland but is allowed to race there, asking is this better? As he said, the race office is interested in filling 12 races per day with 12 horses and security is not being sufficiently stressed. Why did the industry do away with the security barns on raceday? Too expensive and complaints from trainers. As Graham said, how pitiful is that. |
Years ago i was in the paddock with horses' owner and trainer, and the conversation went " don't get out vetted" Was it a joke??
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Hanging would be too good for these POSs.....I can only hope the maximum penalties are executed and these $shitheads get everything they deserve...this literally makes me sick, it may be a long time before I look at racing the same way as I did before Monday...
https://pastthewire.com/the-doping-o...psDAL6wkX3-bzY |
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