The trial of alleged doping conspirator Jason Servis got pushed back to early 2023 at a status conference in federal court on Thursday.
Robert Gearty of the Blood-Horse first broke the Feb. 24 story from United States District Court (Southern District of New York).
Gearty reported that the former trainer's trial will take place in the first quarter of 2023 along with that of veterinarian Alexander Chan.
Previously, Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil had been aiming for a mid-2022 trial for Servis, the most prominent name among the remaining defendants asserting innocence.
“Vyskocil blamed the postponement on the courthouse's coronavirus restrictions that have made it more difficult to schedule trials in a timely manner,” Gearty wrote. “When scheduling criminal trials preference goes to defendants awaiting trial behind bars. Servis and Chan are free on bond.”
Servis amassed gaudily high win percentages during the 2010s decade prior to getting arrested on three felony drug misbranding and conspiracy to commit fraud charges in March 2020.
According to a trove of wiretaps the government has produced as evidence against him (and other defendants), Servis allegedly doped almost all the horses under his control in early 2019, including MGISW Maximum Security, who crossed the wire first in the GI Kentucky Derby but was DQ'd for in-race interference.
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