Scott Robinson

Before he was caught up in the probe into performance-enhancing drugs in horse racing and arrested for selling and shipping adulterated and misbranding drugs, Scott Robinson was living large. He drove a Lamborghini and his on-line businesses that the government has charged were selling PEDs were pulling in millions. There was never any shortage of customers. "I sold to everybody," said Robinson, who added that he had "thousands of customers," and not just in horse racing. Robinson said his products were bought by individuals using them with camels, racing greyhounds,...

Kristian Rhein, a suspended veterinarian formerly based at Belmont Park, on Tuesday changed his plea to guilty on one felony count within the federal government's sprawling prosecution of an allegedly years-long conspiracy to dope racehorses. Speaking in open court, Rhein also directly implicated five others, most notably co-defendant Jason Servis, the now-barred trainer who was his regular client and allegedly administered performance-enhancing drugs [PEDs] on practically every Thoroughbred under his control. "I, along with Jason Servis, concealed the administration of SGF-1000 and clenbuterol from the owners by billing for other...

Sarah Izhaki, one of 27 individuals indicted in March 2020 for their role in a horse doping scheme, was sentenced Monday to time served plus three years of supervised release. U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil could have sentenced Izhaki to a prison term of 12 to 18 months, but opted for the more lenient punishment due to extenuating circumstances that include Izhaki's poor health and what Vyskocil called a "troubled upbringing." Two months after the indictments were announced, Izhaki attempted suicide. During the first 12 months of her sentence,...

Los Angeles Times columnist John Cherwa has seen a lot in just a handful of years on the Southern California racing beat, and Wednesday morning he joined the TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland to discuss the past, present and future of racing in the Golden State. Calling in via Zoom as the Green Group Guest of the Week, Cherwa talked about the progress in Santa Anita's safety record, the top 3-year-olds on the west coast and the effect of last week's protest at Golden Gate Fields. "I wrote...

One year to the day that the bombshell indictments against 27 individuals allegedly involved in a scheme to use performance-enhancing drugs on racehorses were announced, Scott Robinson became the first of those involved in the scandal to be sentenced to prison. In a decision handed down Tuesday by Judge J. Paul Oetken in U. S. District Court in Lower Manhattan, Robinson was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison plus an additional three years of supervised release. Robinson is required to surrender himself to authorities on Sept. 7, 2021. Robinson,...

The next chapter in the scandal that has rocked Thoroughbred racing played out last week when Scott Robinson and Sarah Izhaki both pled guilty to charges relating to the sale and distribution of performance-enhancing drugs used to dope race horses. It was an important development, but the bigger story is this: will it lead to a new and extensive list of indictments against trainers and others who so far have not been charged? That possibility certainly exists. For now, everything is speculation and the Department of Justice has not said...

Scott Robinson and Sarah Izhaki each pled guilty today to conspiring to unlawfully distribute adulterated and misbranded drugs for the purpose of doping racehorses. Robinson pled guilty before U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken, and will be sentenced by Judge Oetken Jan. 15, 2021. Izhaki pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil, and will be sentenced by Judge Vyskocil Dec. 2, 2020. The guilty pleas are the first major domino to fall from the bombshell FBI indictments that the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New...

New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal in conjunction with the New Jersey Racing Commission announced that the State has suspended the horse racing licenses of seven New Jersey licensees. The suspensions come two days after the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York unsealed indictments against a total of 27 individuals in an alleged international conspiracy to dope racehorses. Seven individuals received letters from New Jersey Racing Commission Executive Director Judith A. Nason notifying them of their immediate suspensions. The septet includes trainer Jason Servis, Nicholas...