By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. prosecutors on Monday said 27 trainers, veterinarians, drug distributors and others have been criminally charged in a wide-ranging scheme to drug horses and cheat bettors in the $100 billion professional horse racing industry.
The charges, contained in four indictments, are a black eye for a racing industry long tainted by allegations that horses have been drugged to improve their performance on the track.
Among those charged was Jason Servis, the trainer of one of the world’s best racehorses, Maximum Security.
Prosecutors said Servis covertly administered performance-enhancing drugs to Maximum Security as well as “virtually all of the racehorses under his control.”
Maximum Security won last month’s $20 million Saudi Cup, the world’s richest horse race. He also appeared to have won the 2019 Kentucky Derby, before being disqualified for interference.
Servis could not immediately be reached for comment. Another trainer facing criminal charges, Jorge Navarro, also could not immediately be reached.
The defendants were accused of involvement in one or more drug alteration and misbranding conspiracies to deceive regulators, racing officials and the betting public, with each charge carrying a maximum five-year prison term.
Two defendants were also charged with smuggling or obstruction, each carrying a maximum 20-year prison term.
Authorities said horses were secretly given adulterated PEDs including blood builders, pain shots, bronchodilators and “red acid” to boost performance by stimulating endurance, deadening nerves, increasing oxygen intake and reducing inflammation.
“What actually happened to the horses amounted to nothing less than abuse,” William Sweeney, assistant director-in-charge of the FBI’s New York office, said at a news conference.
“They experienced cardiac issues, overexertion leading to leg fractures, increased risk of injury, and in some cases death,” Sweeney added. “Conversely, the human beings involved in this scheme continued to line their purses.”
Prosecutors said races were affected in such places as New York, New Jersey, Florida, Kentucky, Ohio and the United Arab Emirates.
Critics of the racing industry, including animal rights advocates, have demanded changes, or banning racing altogether, following a recent rash of horse fatalities.
These have included several dozen deaths at southern California’s Santa Anita Park since the middle of 2018.
Servis entered horses in approximately 1,082 races between 2018 and last month, while Navarro entered horses in 1,480 races over that time, prosecutors said.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel and Brendan Pierson; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)