By Bill Finley
The Maryland Jockey Club once again began accepting entries from Marcus Vitali yesterday, and the trainer has four horses entered on Saturday's card at Laurel Park. After a story emerged that Vitali had turned in his license in Florida in an apparent attempt to avoid penalties for medication violations there, the MJC briefly refused to accept his entries pending further investigation.
“We had a conference call today with Marcus, his new lawyer and our corporate team and afterward agreed to start taking his entries again,” said MJC General Manager Sal Sinatra. “Marcus has hired a new lawyer and they confirmed that he is going to re-apply for his license in Florida. That way, his case can be reviewed in Florida and he'll get whatever penalty is coming his way. He is going to face the music and fulfill his obligations in Florida. If it winds up that he is suspended in Florida that will obviously come into play regarding his situation here in Maryland.”
Vitali's latest problems in Florida stem from two Class IV drug positives incurred at the Gulfstream championship meet. Class IV drug violations often involve overages of therapeutic medications.
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