And make no mistake, Navarro, Servis, and the rest, like Asmussen and Blasi before them, are horseracing, and anyone who says different is either lying, ignorant, or self-deluded.
Please also read Horse Racing Insiders Charged in 'Most Far-reaching' Doping Case in DOJ History
Ignore everything you read and hear from the apologists. This is bad.
Very bad. For an industry that has been under relentless siege for over a
year now, the federal indictments that came down yesterday against some 27
people in, or associated with, American horseracing – including seven
veterinarians (who merit an especial contempt) and renowned trainers Jason
Servis (he of short-lived Derby winner Maximum Security) and Jorge Navarro
(killer of X Y Jet) – couldn’t have come at a worse time. But it’s important
not to get too far into the weeds on this.
As I wrote in the wake of PETA’s undercover investigation of another famous
trainer’s (Steve Asmussen) barn in 2013, it’s more about the human-horse
relationship than the case particulars. On this relationship, horseracing is
more amoral than immoral, for traditional rules of morality simply do not
apply. (Defrauding bettors is a topic best discussed elsewhere – i.e., I
don’t care.) Racehorses are pieces of property, assets, things to be made,
used, and discarded; you can no more act immorally toward your racehorse
than you can your house or car. Accordingly, virtually anything goes. And
that is the story here. And make no mistake, Navarro, Servis, and the rest,
like Asmussen and Blasi before them, are horseracing, and anyone who says
different is either lying, ignorant, or self-deluded.
Anyway, here are some of the indictments’ “highlights”
“[Dealer Sarah] Izhaki represented that ‘The Devil’ was ‘[s]omething very
new, you put it in the horse, you can use coke: it will come back
negative.’”
“On or about October 2, 2019, [veterinarian Louis] Grasso counseled [trainer
Thomas] Guido on the proper administration of misbranded and adulterated
PEDs, and specifically discussed the death of a horse that Guido was
training and stated had been doped with a PED…noting, ‘it happens,’ that the
deceased horse’s trainer had ‘probably over juiced him,’ and that the
suspected cause of the horse’s death was not unusual: ‘I’ve seen that happen
20 times.’”
“On or about October 17, 2019, Grasso reiterated to [assistant trainer
Conor] Flynn his willingness to provide prescriptions without verifying
medical necessity, advising…that his fee was ‘$100 per script,’ regardless
of the prescription: ‘I don’t give the fuck what it is.’”
“On or about October 23, 2019…Flynn indicated that he was willing to inject
misbranded and adulterated PEDs of unknown composition into his racehorses
because he was ‘a fucking desperado….’”
“On or about January 2, 2016, [dealer Scott] Robinson forwarded the
following customer complaint to [dealer Scott] Mangini: ‘I ordered some
[PED-1]…starting bout 8 hours after I give the injection and for about 36
hours afterwards both my horses act like they are heavily sedated, can
barely walk. Could I have a bad bottle of medicine, I’m afraid to give it
anymore since this has happened three times.’ Commenting on this complaint,
Robinson wrote, ‘here is another one.’”
“On a February 1, 2019, intercepted call between [trainer Nicholas] Surick
and [collaborator] Michael Tannuzzo discussing [trainer Jorge] Navarro,
Surick stated: ‘You know how many fucking horses he fucking killed and broke
down that I made disappear. … You know how much trouble he could get in…if
they found out?’”
“During an April 3, 2019, call between Navarro and [trainer Marcos] Zulueta,
the two discussed, among other things, Navarro’s administration of PEDs to
XY Jet in the weeks leading up to, and on the day of, the race in Dubai, and
Navarro explained: ‘I gave it to him through 50 injections. I gave it to him
through the mouth.’”
“Following XY Jet’s victory in Dubai, [veterinarian] Seth Fishman
congratulated Navarro on the win via text message, and Navarro replied,
‘Thank u boss u are a big part of it.’”
“On or about May 29, 2019, Navarro held a conference call with the operators
of a racing stable in California, for whom Navarro is a trainer, during
which they discussed a series of poor performances by “Nanoosh,” a racehorse
trained by Navarro. During the call, one of the operators questioned whether
Navarro was ‘giving them all the shit,’ later asking, ‘Is this horse jacked
out? Is he on fucking pills or what or are we just fucking -,’ to which
Navarro responded, ‘Everything…he gets everything.’”
“On a March 5, 2019, intercepted call between [trainer Jason] Servis and
Navarro, Servis recommended ‘SGF’ to Navarro, stating, ‘I’ve been using it
on everything almost.’ Navarro stated…that he ‘got more than 12 horses on’
SGF-1000….’”
“[D]uring an intercepted call between Navarro and Tannuzzo, Navarro
explained, in part, that he otherwise would have been caught doping: ‘[The
racing official] would’ve caught our asses fucking pumping and pumping and
fuming every fucking horse [that] runs today.’“