Kudos to officials at the Meadowlands and Woodbine for refusing to accept entries by Andrew Harris during the term of Casie Coleman's suspension. For those who aren't aware, Coleman is serving a 45 day suspension for a medication violation in Canada. So what happened when she got suspended, she transferred the horses to Andrew Harris who is her assistant trainer in New York. In a case of being the most flagrant use of a beard, the two tracks said no way and are refusing to accept entries from him. The net result is a Hat's Off to the Meadowlands and Woodbine for refusing to be played for a fool.
On the other hand, a Bronx Cheer to Yonkers Raceway and the NYSRWB who seems to have no problem accepting entries from Andrew Harris, who has been racing horses who were previously listed as being in the Coleman stable, including Levy contestant Reibercrombe, who was suspended for ninety days. While originally scratched and an appeal was made, somehow the NYSRWB found a technicality to allow the horse to race despite the suspension. In addition, as Brett Sturmann notes, Coleman who was a part owner of the horse in Canada is no longer an owner now. Will the horse become partially owned by Coleman afterwards once again? Regardless, Yonkers Raceway should have done the same thing the Meadowlands and Woodbine are doing regarding this flagrant bearding, so a big Boo to Yonkers Raceway for lacking the courage to act against an obvious ploy to circumvent racing rules.
Transfers of horses under suspension should be initiated by the owner and not the trainer, While it shouldn't have to be, it appears the racetracks are the ones who are going to be the ones who will need to be vigilant against bearding.
1 comment:
they shouldn't even allow the transfer of any horse for the first 30 days of any suspension of a trainer/owner, imo.
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