Pennsylvania's Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding recently wrote a letter to Stuary S. Janney III, chairman of The Jockey Club, saying that Janney's comments at The Jockey Club Round Table that Pennsylvania regulators were “asleep on the job” when it came to “nearly universal cheating” in Pennsylvania racing were “inappropriate and inaccurate” and “spread misinformation.” The matter stemmed from an FBI criminal investigation into Penn National trainer Murray Rojas, who was subsequently found guilty of 14 felony charges related to misuse of drugs.
Janney responded to Redding with a letter Tuesday standing by his remarks, citing, among other things, testimony in the case from trainer Stephanie Beattie, who said that the vast majority of trainers at Penn National had their veterinarians provide race-day medications to horses in violation of the rules and that she herself had violated Pennsylvania's medication rules a majority of the time.
“The above referenced testimony–that 95% to 98% of trainers were cheating on a daily basis, that Ms. Beattie and Dr. [Fernando] Motta were both able to impermissibly drug horses on race days a 'thousand times,' that PETRL did not have tests for numerous regulated drugs, that they were regularly not testing for all regulated drugs, and that they were deliberately diluting and corrupting certain testing samples–provides ample evidence in support of my conclusions that there were 'regulators asleep on the job' and that there was a 'corrupted and ineffectual' testing system,'” Janney said.
Janney's full letter can be read here.
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