How did the government get involved with racing crimes?

[Limerick2017]

How did the government get involved in NY Racing? And could it happen to those who give horses illegal substances (like GABA) at USEF shows?

Jason Servis In Tears As Judge Issues Four-Year Prison Sentence Over...

[axl]

I have no idea, but I am glad they did. Whether other trainers are doing worse things, I still think this was egregious and I found the email exchange with Gary West both heartening (because he so clearly wanted to play by the rules) and a clear sign of intent to deceive and cheat by Servis.
I hope they are looking into other trainers (presumably Servis mentioned some by name) and more traction will come from this for additional charges to be brought against other cheats.

[wanderlust]

Racing is managed by each state’s gaming commission or some variation thereof due to the gambling aspect. There are a variety of state laws and regulations around it.

Other than in California, where there are some state regulations around drugging and the horse show drug testers actually work for the state rather than USEF, very unlikely. Even unlikely in California given that there is no real public interest aspect of it, unlike with racing.

[Peggy]

Racing has betting and therefore a public interest.

[Peggy]

@wanderlust

Other than in California, where there are some state regulations around drugging and the horse show drug testers actually work for the state rather than USEF,

We’re actually blessed with both USEF and CDFA testing.

[DMK]

Because there is (finally) federal oversight

“The Horseracing Integrity & Safety Act, enacted on December 27, 2020, and amended on December 29, 2022, directs the Federal Trade Commission to oversee the activities of a private, self-regulatory organization called the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority.”

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/05/03/2023-09247/horseracing-integrity-and-safety-act-anti-doping-and-medication-control-rule#:~:text=The%20Horseracing%20Integrity%20and%20Safety%20Act%20of%202020%2C%2015%20U.S.C.,3053(a).

[wanderlust]

Ahhh that’s right. Only time I’ve ever been drug tested was when I spent a summer dipping my toe back into eventing… after my horse bucked and bolted his way around showjumping a Cali tester grabbed us.

[Limerick2017]

Thank you so much! I will definitely read this!

[Peggy]

I got pulled as I left the ring on my jumper/eventer who tended to enter and exit the ring at the sideways prance. My trainer and I contemplated if they thought we’d given him uppers.

I asked for a couple of minutes to walk him out. By then he was standing quietly looking half asleep. We were then accused of switching horses.

This was the somewhat notorious CDFA tester from 25+ years ago who tended to be a bit pedantic and difficult.

[Limerick2017]

This kind of broke my heart, “Please give my horse organic carrots and hay until the race.”

[DMK]

This was the quote that did it for me…

Drazin, chairman and CEO of Darby Development, operator of Monmouth Park, wrote that it was “noteworthy to consider that there was widespread use of SGF-1000 amongst trainers and vets in this country before New York Racing put a warning on it overnight in September 2019.

Uh huh… That’s too cute by half as the saying goes. They unequivocally knew that doping horse with growth hormones wasn’t legal, just like every trainer in the hunter world understood that when Carolina Gold could be identified in a drug test, the gig was up.

[Peggy]

And there are those of us who have been around long enough to remember the reserpine drama of several decades ago.

[DMK]

And the one before that one!

[Bella]

This has been going on waaaay before HISA regulations came in. I’d have to look back on it but I believe the FBI and federal govt became involved through racketeering and money laundering investigations and subsequent charges as well as the fact they were manufacturing and/or deliberately mislabeling prohibited drugs. They were the agencies that had wiretaps on which blew the whole case wide open and led to the horse trainers charged, if I recall correctly, Servis et al even said that one ‘olympic medal winning rider’ was using their illegal cocktails but it was never (that I’ve heard) proven who

[vxf111]

The government is always involved in prosecuting crime. That’s how the criminal law works? Regardless of the context (horse racing, horse shows, running a restaurant, building houses, etc.) if there is a potential violation of criminal law that would be something that law enforcement investigates and a prosecutor’s office considers litigating.

[Limerick2017]

Okay BUT we have had a pony death at Devon and that never became a criminal matter. And trainers are still giving GABA and it is just USEF that handles it. Something changed in horse racing and it was the “Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act” from 2020.

[vxf111]

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act didn’t have anything to do with Servis’s conviction.

The pony death didn’t violate any criminal laws that could be proven (trust me, it was looked into. If there had been a viable angle there was interest in trying to go forward). Giving horses GABA doesn’t obviously violate any criminal laws. The government is involved with violations of criminal laws.

Organizations enforce violations of their own rules that do not rise to the level of violations of the criminal law. You smash your neighbors window. That violates the criminal law. You can be criminally prosecuted. You violate your homeowner’s association rules for the length of the grass. You can’t be criminally prosecuted. Your homeowner’s association can sanction you. The Humble situation and violating USEF drugging rules may violate USEF rules and give rise to USEF sanctions but they don’t clearly violate criminal laws.

Horse racing presents a bit of a different situation than horse showing because of the wagering element. Just like major league sports present more of an issue for criminal laws as compared to children’s sports. As soon as you introduce gambling into the mix, you raise all sorts of additional criminal angles because of the ways in which drugging can be used to fix the outcome of the sport. There are other criminal enterprise aspects too, like racketeering and fraud. Those issues have led to prosecutions in the horse show, not racing world. Those were some of the angles used to prosecute the horse killers, for example.

Servis was not convicted for giving horses drugs. Nor was he convicted under the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act. As best as I can tell, that Act only authorizes civil litigation. Servis was convicted for misbranding and adulterating drugs that he sent across state lines under existing criminal law non-specific to horse racing. That wasn’t factually what happened with Humble. And I don’t know enough about people caught giving GABA to say they were misbranding and adulterating the drug.

[Laurierace]

Horse racing sends it signal across state lines as allowed by the Interstate Horse Racing Act from 1978 so the government can and does get involved in allegations of drugging race horses. It can actually be considered wire fraud.