MONDAY, MARCH 16, 2020 WEST HIRES BRAMLAGE TO EXAMINE SHOULD SERVIS, NAVARRO MAXIMUM SECURITY; SAYS HE COULD OWNERS PAY RESTITUTION? ABIDE BY DQ=S by Bill Finley Admitting that the charges that trainer Jason Servis drugged Maximum Security (New Year=s Day) threaten the integrity of Thoroughbred racing, his owner, Gary West, has announced that he has hired veterinarian Dr. Larry Bramlage to examine the horse Afrom hoof to tail.@ When asked by the TDN in a follow-up email that if further testing revealed that Maximum Security had illegal drugs in his systems in any races if he would advocate that the horse be disqualified, he indicated that he would be open to it. Cont. p5 IN TDN EUROPE TODAY UK RACING’S LEADERSHIP TO DISCUSS CORONAVIRUS PLAN Jason Servis alongside Maximum Security before the $20-million The leadership of UK racing will meet on Monday to discuss Saudi Cup | Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia the sport’s way forward as the coronavirus pandemic The Week in Review, by Bill Finley worsens. Click or tap here to go straight to TDN Europe. They have come at us one by one, saying they are shocked, they are disgusted, they love the animal, they love the sport and they had no idea they had been employing drug cheats. That's what we have heard from the owners who employed Jason Servis and Jorge Navarro and have spoken up in the aftermath of indictments that are not only shocking but threaten to do severe and irreparable damage to the sport. How could an owner employ someone who performed training feats that were, basically, impossible if they were clean, and not know they were dirty? Everyone else knew. The gamblers, the honest owners and trainers, the guy working the hot dog stand on the second floor. Also racetrack executives and racing commissioners. As clueless as they now seem, they knew. According to the indictments, Servis and Navarro doped their horses with a variety of garbage and the horses then went out there and ran the proverbial hole in the wind. Navarro won 217 races in 2019, clicking at 28%. Servis won 168 races in 2019, winning at 29%. He also managed the campaign of Maximum Security (New Year=s Day), on the surface, the best horse in racing up through his win in the $20-million Saudi Cup. Cont. p3 PUBLISHER & CEO Sue Morris Finley @suefinley [email protected] SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT Gary King @garykingTDN [email protected] EDITORIAL [email protected] Editor-in-Chief Jessica Martini @JessMartiniTDN Managing Editor Monday, March 16, 2020 Alan Carasso @EquinealTDN Senior Editor Steve Sherack @SteveSherackTDN Racing Editor Brian DiDonato @BDiDonatoTDN Deputy Editor Christie DeBernardis @CDeBernardisTDN Associate Editors Christina Bossinakis @CBossTDN Joe Bianca @JBiancaTDN News and Features Editor In Memoriam: Ben Massam (1988-2019) ADVERTISING [email protected] Director of Advertising Alycia Borer Advertising Manager Lia Best Advertising Designer Amanda Crelin Advertising Assistant/Dir. Of Distribution Rachel McCaffrey Advertising Assistants Amie Newcomb Kristen Lomasson On the 23rd anniversary of Chindi (El Prado {Ire}-Rousing, by Alydar) breaking his Photographer/Photo Editor maiden at Oaklawn, Porfirio Cruz (right) and Juan Fernandez (left) lead Chindi to the Sarah K. 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Kelsey Riley @kelseynrileyTDN [email protected] European Editor Emma Berry [email protected] Associate International Editor Heather Anderson @HLAndersonTDN Newmarket Bureau, Cafe Racing Sean Cronin & Tom Frary [email protected] 60 Broad Street, Suite 100 Red Bank, NJ 07701 732-747-8060 | 732-747-8955 (fax) TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 3 OF 13 • THETDN.COM MONDAY • MARCH 16, 2020 The Week in Review cont. from p1 not going to happen, at least not in the U.S. Combined, Servis and Navarro horses earned over $19 million For those owners involved who have a conscience, and maybe, in 2019 alone. well, some of them don't, they need to stand up and take some While no one is suggesting that any owners were directly responsibility and do something to make amends to a sport that involved in the doping scheme has been crippled by this. or should go to prison, it just Start by saying something doesn't seem right that they will along these lines: AI understand all walk away from this that the money my horses have unscathed. Most have already earned while racing for (fill in moved on, transferring their the blank) was tantamount to horses to other trainers, in some stealing because they were cases, trainers that have also drugged. I find that aroused suspicions. In Florida unacceptable and I cannot in and New York, there are Astand good conscience accept that down@ periods in place and the money.@ horses coming out of the Servis Then write a check. and Navarro barns won't be Not to the owners of the allowed to race for a while. horses who finished second or Again, not good enough. third behind the drugged horses. The answer to this is not going Gary West | Coglianese A rich guy writing a check to to come from anyone in another rich guy isn't going to authority. We have heard from some owners of horses that heal the wound. Instead, write a check to the various charities were beaten by Servis and Navarro saying they want that are working so hard to make the sport better. disqualifications so they can get the money they deserve. It's Cont. p4 TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 4 OF 13 • THETDN.COM MONDAY • MARCH 16, 2020 Write a check, a big check, to the Thoroughbred Aftercare now standing at Hill >n' Dale. Alliance. To the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund. To ATo be involved with something that brings a black eye to the Thoroughbred Charities of America. To any effort or organization game is, beyond words, sickening to me,@ Dubb said. that assists backstretch workers and their families. Prove it. Write a check. The first two in line to do so should be Gary West and Michael I choose to believe that Dubb and West are both good, decent Dubb. Both are extremely wealthy men. people, people who made a mistake by hiring bad apples. Both In a 2006 Forbes survey, West was listed as the 354th most have given away millions through philanthropic efforts they wealthy person in the U.S. According to the indictment, West support. Dubb has dug deep into his own pocket to build and was employing a trainer in Servis that cheated, which would donate daycare centers for backstretch workers at the NYRA mean that the $11.8 million earned by Maximum Security was tracks. They need to lead by example and they need to do more. earned through fraudulent means. Can you imagine what an The FBI says your trainers stole from the sport you profess to $11.8-million check from West to the Thoroughbred Aftercare love, you need to make up for it. You need to give something Alliance could do to save the lives of racing=s blue-collar back. retirees? A(The allegation against Servis) is a very serious charge,@ West What's Next in Horse Doping Scandal? said in a statement. AIt threatens the integrity of Thoroughbred There are rumors everywhere, but it remains anyone=s guess racing, an industry and sport that I have been a part of and have as to whether the 29 people now tied up in the scandal will be cared deeply about for decades.@ all that will be charged or whether they are the tip of the Prove it. Give the money back. iceberg. The U.S. Attorney's Office won=t say, only that the Dubb is another very prominent and very wealthy owner who investigation is ongoing. used Servis. The many horses Servis trained for Dubb include I can see a scenario where the feds can=t pack up their bags World of Trouble (Kantharos), who won two Grade I races last soon enough and, if so, there probably won't be any more major year and earned $1.2 million in his career. That doesn't include indictments. whatever money Dubb received in the stallion deal for a horse Cont. p5 TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 5 OF 13 • THETDN.COM MONDAY • MARCH 16, 2020 The FBI has a lot more important things to worry about than to clean up a sport I have been in love with for 40 years, I would horse racing and the feds are already on record saying that they gladly do that for the good of racing.@ stumbled into the racing investigation while looking into Early Sunday, West sent out a statement revealing his plan to something else. Do they really want to invest any more of their bring in Bramlage, a highly respected veterinarian, to try to get resources in something that is, in the grand scheme of things to the bottom of exactly what has been going on behind the and to most people, not that big of a deal? scenes with Maximum Security and the other horses West The other scenario is that the government will lean on the vets owned that were trained by Servis.