TJC Integrity

The federal case against Penn National trainer Murray Rojas has been closed after the U.S. Supreme Court vacated the conviction against her on drug misbranding charges and prosecutors opted not to pursue a second trial. The Sept. 28 order signed by federal Judge Sylvia H. Rambo called for a second superseding indictment to be dismissed […]

At a regularly-scheduled meeting of the Pennsylvania State Horse Racing Commission on Sept. 27, commissioners voted to deny an appeal from trainer Juan Vazquez of a suspension that would run through 2025. The vote was unanimous by the commissioners present, save for one abstention. Commissioner Russell Jones abstained from the vote and also abstained from […]

The following update on the activities of the Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit (HIWU) was delivered to the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority’s board of directors on September 26, 2022, by HIWU Executive Director Ben Mosier. In May, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) announced that it had selected Drug Free Sport International, a […]

The following press release written  by J.N. Campbell was distributed by the Organization of Racing Investigators Investigators from multiple jurisdictions assembled the week of Sept. 19 in what amounted to a barnstorming tour across Pennsylvania’s three Thoroughbred tracks, as members of the Organization of Racing Investigators took the stage. A handpicked team of specialists from […]

Veterinarian  Bradley Gordon was summarily suspended Sept. 22 by the Prairie Meadows board of stewards in Altoona, Iowa., for allegedly violating both state of Iowa and Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority regulations. “On Sept. 22, 2022,” the ruling states, “the board of stewards received a report from the Iowa Racing and Gaming state veterinarians and […]

Sheriff Brown has been disqualified from his narrow victory in the $200,000 Albuquerque Handicap at the Downs at Albuquerque on Sept. 24 after stewards ruled that jockey Oscar Ceballos violated the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority regulations restricting use of the riding crop. The ruling, dated Sept. 25 and posted on the Association of Racing […]

Trainer Chris Hartman has been fined $500 for violating a Kentucky Horse Racing Commission regulation prohibiting electronic therapeutic treatments on horses within 24 hours of a race. The Sept. 14 ruling states that Necker Island, a 5-year-old multiple stakes-winning son of Hard Spun who contested the 2020 Kentucky Derby, was treated with a portable handheld […]

Jockey Drayden Van Dyke has been suspended three days and fined $960 for using the riding crop five strikes over the limit aboard Ruis Racing’s Bolt’s Broad in the sixth race at Del Mar racetrack in Del Mar, Calif., on Sept. 9. Under Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority regulations, penalties for Class 2 riding crop […]

Former harness trainer Rick Dane has been sentenced to 30 months in prison over his role in the 2020 federal racehorse doping case, reports the Thoroughbred Daily News. He was also ordered to pay a monetary judgement of $33,912. Dane had previously entered a guilty plea on one felony count, with a second felony charge dropped based […]

Owner-trainer Lance R. Moore’s Jes An Angel, who recorded the fastest time trial and was the morning line favorite for the $3 million All American Futurity at Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico on Sept. 5, was scratched from Quarter Horse racing’s marquee event by order of the stewards on the morning of the race after […]