by Bill Finley and Dan Ross
A day after telling the TDN that it was not obligated to make public the names of horses who were ineligible to race or work because they were found to have had an intra-articular injection within seven days of a timed workout, the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) reversed course Friday and published a list on its website of the 19 horses that were provisionally suspended.
Horses that violated Horseracing Safety and Integrity Authority (HISA) Rules 3313 and 4222, which cover intra-articular injection and the timeframe in which horses can race or work after having the injections, mandates that any horses that violate the rules are ineligible race or breeze for 30 days from the date of the injection. Trainers in violation of the rules were subject to 60-day suspensions. However, HISA announced late last month that the trainers would not be penalized and that the rules would not be enforced prior to July 15. HISA Chief Executive Lisa Lazarus said at the time that the delay in implementing the rule was needed because there was confusion among trainers regarding the specifics of the rule. She added that the temporary modification of enforcement of the rules was deemed the most “fair and equitable” way to proceed “given the number of violations.”
But HISA/HIWU still put the horses involved on a “provisionally suspended list.” According to a HISA statement released Friday, that was done so to “protect the horse's health.”
The list includes 17 trainers. Two horses had not started, therefore their trainers were not listed on Equibase. Among trainers, the most prominent names on the list are Norm Casse, Michael Stidham, Todd Pletcher, Linda Rice, and Jack Sisterson. The others are Carlos Munoz, Adriel Gonzalez, Betty Ott, Pedro Nazario, Adrian Farias, David Fawkes, Victor Carrasco, Jr., John Ennis, Joseph Davis and Monica McGoey.
The release of the names of the horses left some important questions unanswered, namely why were some of the horses permitted to race while on the suspended list? The list of horses that raced while they were supposedly suspended numbers nine and does not include horses that may have worked out while they should have been ineligible to do so. Three of the horses on the list won while “suspended.” They are Trust Me (The Big Beast), Borgobythsea (English Channel) and Let's Go Mark (American Freedom).
At deadline for this story, a HIWU spokesperson had just responded to an email from TDN asking why the horses were allowed to race while suspended and who at HISA/HIWU was responsible for this apparent lapse? In an earlier email to HIWU, TDN had also asked if the horses who won while on the provisionally suspended list would be disqualified.
Here is the reply:
“HIWU had not anticipated the large volume of violations related to this rule and given the newness of the ADMC program, HIWU processed and notified the cases as quickly as they could. The horsemen continued to train and race their horses prior to receiving any notification, therefore they will not receive any penalties. HISA is reviewing the rule and procedures and will make an announcement prior to July 15 on the status of the rule and related procedures subsequent to July 15. Additionally, there were numerous other potential ADMC violations that needed to be investigated and/or processed, creating a much larger than expected workload. HISA and HIWU's top priority is the safety and welfare of each horse and measures have been taken to address these operational concerns.”
The list published Friday was through July 3. According to HISA, it will be updated.
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