An owner/trainer and an assistant trainer/groom at Delaware Park on Tuesday both were granted stays of penalties imposed last Friday for alleged neglect of horses their care.
Owner/trainer Ney Pessanha, 38, had appeared at a hearing before the Delaware stewards Sept. 17 to respond to allegations of “improper or inhumane treatment of horses” after the stewards “had received complaints from horsemen, outriders, the Safety Steward, private veterinarians, and regulatory veterinarians,” according to a Sept. 20 Delaware Thoroughbred Racing Commission (DTRC) ruling.
On the same date, assistant/groom Nilo Pessanha, 44, had also been asked to testify before the Delaware stewards regarding nearly identical complaints.
Ney Pessanha, the ruling stated, “failed to provide adequate food, water, bedding, sanitation, exercise, and veterinarian care for his horses.” The Delaware stewards suspended his license for one year, fined him $1,000, and deemed him ineligible to apply for a Delaware license in any capacity until Jan. 1, 2030.
In a near-verbatim explanation in a separate ruling, Nilo Pessanha was suspended for 99 days and also had a five-year period of ineligibility stipulated before he can apply for licensure in Delaware.
Both licensees had waived their rights to legal counsel at the hearings, the rulings stated.
Each of the stays will be in effect until the DTRC adjudicates the appeals for the Pessanhas.
A trainer since 2007, Ney Pessanha's record on Equibase shows a 48-62-109 mark from 1,002 starts, with purse earnings of $1,759,652. So far in 2024, he has saddled 16 starters, with none of them hitting the board at Delaware, Penn National and Parx.
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