This doesn't sound good (for Servis and Navarro)

[luisbe]

Mark Casse has been playing to the very bone lately.

[Tom]

Originally Posted by garyscpa

So now we trust the FBI?

Compared to horse trainers and owners, yes.

[Elkchester Road]

Originally Posted by Gander36

I have been advocating also suspending HORSES for bad drug tests.

If you think about it, owners and tracks would have much more to lose under this scenario, and maybe be more proactive in making sure trainers are more closely scrutinized and more harshly dealt with.

You would be correct.

[Irishfever]

Originally Posted by lex

I'm thinking someone tipped the NJRC about the location and they were already working with the FBI. I can't figure out how these people thought they could lie about who was training the horse.

There was an incident several months ago at a training centre where there was a van suspiciously parked outside. The police were called and found it was fbi doing surveillance.

I heard Saratoga harness was also on lockdown today and many other trainers activities being monitored when the news broke.

I guess at Bancas farm where Grasso's clients stay, no one was allowed to leave. One trainer had 11 horses scratched at Pocono. Apparently there might be more to come yet, especially guys using the vet Skelton in the midwest.

[onefast99]

Originally Posted by clicknow

Don't forget the vets.

The FBI has had how many ongoing investigations through the years at Penn Nat. Tell me what has really changed there?

We keep talking about all this stuff, but nothing ever happens. Everyone knows the score. That's why people are walking away from the sport. They got tired of waiting and have found other ways to spend their recreational income.

Penn got rid of a few bad apples but this is a lot bigger than any Penn investigation ever was. There will be lots of names dropped by the defendants during the plea process. This investigation will cloud the Kentucky Derby and every big race where the media will continue to report on it every chance they get. In the end people will go to jail and the general public will once again forget about those who cheat until the next group gets caught. Change will come at a price to the owners in new testing procedures but those who know how to beat the system will always be part of this industry.

[the little guy]

Originally Posted by depalma113

The FBI had McDonald's run an entire Monopoly Game when they knew the game was rigged, just so they could get more evidence on the culprits.

Based on that alone, it's pretty obvious they informed Churchill Downs Inc. that Maximum Security would be drugged they day he ran in the Kentucky Derby.

They couldn't let Churchill scratch him because they needed more evidence. Afterwards though, they could DQ him for anything that happened in the race.

Elvis has left the building!!!

[Cutter14]

I've been betting for over 60 years and knew the game was legit..ha ha ITS ALL ABOUT THE BIGGEST DRUG M-O-N-E-Y...I can only hope these S O B's get what they deserve..For starters put them under a stampede...NO TRIAL NECESSARY....GUILTY GUILTY GUILTY
..

[acorn54]

Originally Posted by onefast99

Penn got rid of a few bad apples but this is a lot bigger than any Penn investigation ever was. There will be lots of names dropped by the defendants during the plea process. This investigation will cloud the Kentucky Derby and every big race where the media will continue to report on it every chance they get. In the end people will go to jail and the general public will once again forget about those who cheat until the next group gets caught. Change will come at a price to the owners in new testing procedures but those who know how to beat the system will always be part of this industry.

riddle me this onefast. if what you say is true, how is that hong kong racing can be so above board?

or did elvis leave that building too

[The_Turf_Monster]

This is prevalent on every circuit I've ever watched, you can see it when it happened in the gallop out or lack thereof. Get ready to see a lot of owners leave the game when they acknowledge that the mules they bought can't actually run. Likewise get ready to lose a lot of breeding operations when people realize that their bloodstock with a G1-winning pedigree was built on drugs and not talent. As much as I want to think this will help the game, I could also see it killing it. Not to mention that there are going to be a lot of horsemen that are going to disappear because we're going to find out that they're not really horsemen

[clicknow]

Originally Posted by cj

To be fair the stuff at Penn was small potatoes compared to this.

Sort of like Earth, compared to size of Saturn and Jupiter.........same solar system though.

[clicknow]

Originally Posted by onefast99

This investigation will cloud the Kentucky Derby and every big race where the media will continue to report on it every chance they get. In the end people will go to jail and the general public will once again forget about those who cheat until the next group gets caught. Change will come at a price to the owners in new testing procedures but those who know how to beat the system will always be part of this industry.

This is what happens when you don't address things at the time they REQUIRE addressing.

Later on it just becomes more problematic as a crescendo builds.

Many people run their own personal lives this way.....so there would of course be the same type of corresponding dysfunctionality in a larger system made up of many individuals.

[Niko]

Catching up - so many great comments.

Horse racing officials share some blame as they tried to sweep everything under the rug, hiding it from fans. Class action lawsuits vs the tracks if they can prove they had any knowledge?

I'm so jaded I don't expect much to happen, but this appears to have some serious teeth to it. I'm still waiting for a race fixing indictment and guilty verdict.

[clocker7]

Keep in mind, SDNY, with Berman in charge, allowed Michael Cohen's attorney Lanny Davis to fashion a plea deal which smeared the President as Individual 1 in a conspiracy for months.

Then, two months ago, it told a federal judge in a plea resentencing hearing that Cohen was a lousy liar, his "evidence" was worthless, and that he should remain in prision for the full term.

I simply do not trust the federal government or the FBI anymore. Especially in the jurisdiction where Epstein's video cameras forgot to work. The timing of this when the Horse Racing Integrity Act was sinking stinks.

[taxicab]

Originally Posted by Niko

Catching up - so many great comments.

Horse racing officials share some blame as they tried to sweep everything under the rug, hiding it from fans. Class action lawsuits vs the tracks if they can prove they had any knowledge?

I'm so jaded I don't expect much to happen, but this appears to have some serious teeth to it. I'm still waiting for a race fixing indictment and guilty verdict.

+1
Some thoughts:
Shouldn't Belinda Stronach quickly stand up and start railing trainers off of her property in Florida ?
If not.......she's the biggest hypocrite going.

Let's keep it real.......the tracks know,it's just that simple.........they allow it.
Under the category of "I'm a jaded,cynical horseplayer"......I don't believe for a second the race track operators are going to do any house cleaning that would require a shred of integrity on their part.........they'll just let the high profile types that get caught.......take the bullet,and let the next bunch of juicers have their way in a few years.
Has one race track made a statement today ?
How about Oaklawn, where every single sharp can see that Roberto Diodoro is cheating/juicing to the max ?
The next few weeks the tracks will only comment on those caught in the FBI sting........not one of them will finger a "new shooter".........greedy cowards.

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by garyscpa

So now we trust the FBI?

I don't. But you don't have to. They lay out the evidence in the indictments.