On Monday, four indictments were handed down against high-priced trainers who gave some of the best racehorses in the world performance-enhancing drugs. Some performance-enhancing drugs, if given to horses, can result in horses overexerting, which can trigger heart issues or death, as The Associated Press noted, adding, “According to the indictments, other drugs used to deaden a horse’s sensitivity to pain to improve the horse’s performance could also lead to leg fractures.”
William F. Sweeney Jr., the FBI’s assistant director in charge of the New York office, stated, “These substances stimulated endurance, deadened nerves, increased oxygen intake and reduced inflammation. What actually happened to these horses amounted to nothing less than abuse. They experienced cardiac issues, overexertion leading to leg fractures, increased risk of injury and in some cases death,” as NBC News reported.
27 people were charged in the indictments; some of the charges included drug adulteration and misbranding conspiracy. Jason Servis, whose stable includes the racehorse Maximum Security, which won the 2019 Kentucky Derby before being disqualified for interference but has won four of five high-profile races since, was charged, along with fellow trainer Jorge Navarro.
NBC News added, “One of Navarro’s most prized thoroughbreds, X Y Jet, died of an apparent heart attack this year after receiving a significant amount of PEDs, in one instance 50 injections, according to the indictment.”
Servis is charged with giving Maximum Security SGF-1000, recommending it to Navarro, and conspiring with a veterinarian so the drug would appear to be a false positive for another substance. AP noted, “Servis is alleged to have given performance-enhancing drugs to ‘virtually all the racehorses under his control.’ He entered horses in races approximately 1,082 times from 2018 through February 2020, according to authorities.”
According to authorities, races in Florida, Kentucky, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and the United Arab Emirates were affected.
The indictments stated, “The charges in this indictment result from a widespread, corrupt scheme by racehorse trainers, veterinarians, PED (performance-enhancing drug) distributors and others to manufacture, distribute and receive adulterated and misbranded PEDs and to secretly administer those PEDs to racehorses under scheme participants’ control,”
More from the indictments on the issue; one stated:
By evading PED prohibitions and deceiving regulators and horse racing authorities, among others, participants sought to improve race performance. Over the course of the scheme, participants manufactured, purchased, sold, shipped, delivered, received and administered, at least thousands of units of PEDs issued by pharmacies pursuant to invalid prescriptions provided by veterinarians participating in the scheme and customized PEDs created and manufactured by scheme participants intended for use on racehorses. Trainers who participated in the scheme stood to profit from the success of racehorses under their control by earning a share of their horse’s winnings, and by improving their horse’s racing records, thereby yielding higher training fees and increasing the number of racehorses under their control.
The indictments noted that between 2018 and February 2020, Servis entered horses in approximately 1,082 races, while Navarro entered horses in roughly 1,480 races.
Trainer Graham Motion, whose horses have won the Kentucky Derby, Dubai World Cup, and Breeders Cup, tweeted, “A sad day for racing but a long time coming. A good day for those who try to play by the rules, we will all be better for it.”
A sad day for racing but a long time coming. A good day for those who try to play by the rules, we will all be better for it.
— GrahamMotion (@GrahamMotion) March 9, 2020