Three fined $500 each for fighting in the paddock

Many years ago, it was not uncommon for fights to break out in the race paddock, in the barn area, even at some award dinners. Nowadays it’s a rare occurrence, but it did happen just a few weeks ago and the NJ Racing Commission issued three harness racing horsemen $500 fines each for the incident at The Meadowlands.

What’s wrong is that the three people involved are supposedly major industry leaders. Mark Ford, President of the SBOANJ, Ray Schnittker, USTA Director and David Yarock, prominent amateur driver. In 2023 these kinds of incidents should not be happening. There was also a case of fraud reported this week.

That being said, this past week there were also some positive tests in the USA including Trazodone ($1,500 fine and 30-day suspension), Flunixin, Ketoprofen and in one case, a horse was found to have Metformin and Gabapentin in its blood.

To review the cases submitted, click here.

In Canada, trainer Yves Tessier had his horse, Little Manny, come up positive at Rideau Carlton. Tessier has been fined $1,000 and a two-week suspension. His license is now on probation. There were two other horses with positive tests reported, Dragon Fly Creek and Manhattan Artist along with numerous driver violations.

To see the entire report from Canada, click here.

by Steve Wolf, for Harnesslink