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Misdeeds & Wrongdoing Archive

Canani Blameless

And the van driver really did change the paperwork. This’ll be the last post on the Sweet Catomine debacle for a while, unless some huge news comes out. After all, we have the amazing Bellamy Road and two sure-to-be thrilling Saturday Derby preps to obsess over for the rest of the week.
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I was wondering yesterday why trainer Julio Canani wasn’t included in the CHRB complaint. Turns out, the CHRB determined that,

Canani did not violate any racing rules, nor was he party to the shipping of Sweet Catomine from Santa Anita to Alamo Pintado Equine Medical Clinic for oxygenation treatment.

“I did not have anything to do with it,” Canani said. “[Wygod] wanted to send her over there, and he talked to the veterinarian. I didn’t talk to anybody.”

Marten said: “Everyone that Loop spoke with — vets, farm mangers, security people, grooms — there was no individual that implicated Canani in any way. None of the sworn or written testimony received by Loop pointed toward Canani.” (Daily Racing Form)

Interesting. Also, van driver Dean Kerkhoff says the falsified paperwork was all his idea:

Kerkhoff said yesterday in a telephone interview that neither Canani nor Wygod had instructed him to misidentify Sweet Catomine when she departed Santa Anita.

“Everything that was done was legal and in the best interests of the horse,” Kerkhoff said.

“That was my own doing,” he replied, in acknowledging that Sweet Catomine was identified as a pony. “I wasn’t thinking about the betting public. I didn’t want people in the barn area to know about it. If word got out, more horses might have been entered in the race to run against her.” (New York Times)

Posted in Misdeeds & Wrongdoing on April 13, 2005

CHRB Files Complaint Against Wygod

And Marty Wygod denies all allegations of wrongdoing. If only someone had asked him the magic question, he would have opened up:

The board also alleges Wygod violated a CHRB rule dealing with statements he made prior to and after the race concerning the health of his filly, who finished fifth in the event as the even-money choice.

Wygod, however, strongly denies that charge. “I hid nothing,” he said. “Anybody that asked me questions, I responded. When they asked me how I felt, my worries were very clear. I said I was apprehensive and nervous. All they had to do was ask why I was apprehensive.” (Blood-Horse)

Reporter Jeff Nahill was so close to breaking the story …

Jeff Nahill: Hi, Marty. I’m curious as to what your emotions are going in this Saturday. Are you nervous? Are you having fun with this?

Marty Wygod: Yes, I’m nervous and I’m apprehensive. I’m much more nervous about this race than the others. But I think the closer you get here, the — and the bigger the race is, that I think that’s normal, and the excitement keeps mounting, so it — part of it’s excitement, and part of it’s just nervousness. (NTRA)

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I’d like to apologize for suggesting yesterday that the racing press covering Santa Anita and Saturday’s Derby were somehow remiss in either not picking up the story of Sweet Catomine’s condition or pursuing it.* It would have taken more skill than Woodward & Bernstein to uncover such news on short notice when the filly’s connections went to the lengths they reportedly did to hide her bleeding episode and off-track treatment. According to the California Horse Racing Board, in a release sent out late Monday afternoon, Sweet Catomine was vanned off Santa Anita grounds in the wee hours with falsified paperwork and returned home the same way:

[CHRB Senior Special
Investigator Christopher] Loop determined that Sweet Catomine left Santa Anita at 3:15 a.m. on Monday, April 4, and was identified to security as a “pony” going
to the “farm.” She was transported to the Alamo Pintado Equine
Medical Center in Los Olivos, about 45 miles north of Santa Barbara,
where she underwent specialized treatment to help with internal
bleeding without the use of medications. According to information
on the Alamo Pintado Website, the filly would have been placed in
a hyperbaric oxygen chamber at approximately two times normal
atmospheric pressure and immersed in enriched oxygen to promote
an increase in tissue oxygenation. She was returned to Santa Anita
at 8:29 p.m. on Tuesday, April 5, and again identified as a “pony”
returning from a “clinic.”

The CHRB has filed a complaint against owner Marty Wygod and van driver Dean Kerkhoff, alleging violations of three racing board rules, “Grounds for Denial or Refusal of License,” “Association to Maintain Records of Horses on Its Grounds,” “Conduct Detrimental to Horse Racing.” A hearing is scheduled for April 23.
Wygod says the van driver is responsible for the false papers, reports the LA Times:

Wygod said it was not his idea to misidentify Sweet Catomine to security at Santa Anita.

“The mentality of the van guy might have something to do with this,” Wygod said. “I think he did what was done on his own. We had said that there would be a lot of curiosity seekers, and we wanted everything done low-profile, but never â€¦ did we want him to do what he did.”

Kerkhoff told investigators that he was asked to keep the horse low-profile and interpreted that to mean that he should be “low-key” about the horse’s identity.

In the same article, Wygod says:

“I’m only speculating, but I think she was sedated. Leading up to the race, she was given three legal medications, including Lasix [for bleeding]. I think those three medications put her to sleep.”

Wygod should stop talking right now. He’s not making anything better with such statements. Also, enough with the excuse that he didn’t say anything about Sweet Catomine’s condition because no one asked him “specific questions.” All week, Wygod and trainer Julio Canani got questions about how the filly was doing and their answers were uniformly along the lines of “she’s super.”
Which brings up another issue: One of the allegations against Wygod is that he “made material misrepresentation and false statements to the Board and its agents. The assertion was made in public forum that his horse was fit to run. However, Wygod deemed the horse would benefit from a significant therapeutic process, requiring the horse to be transferred from the grounds. This was not discussed in the same forum, and as such, was both false and deceptive.” Canani seemingly did the same thing — he made statements that Sweet Catomine was ready for the race, and yet must have known that she was missing from the barn for two days for treatment. So, why hasn’t the board filed a complaint against him?
More: “Controversy surrounds Sweet Catomine, owner” (Daily Racing Form)
*Although, this apology doesn’t extend to the Sports Illustrated reporter who had information from Wygod on Friday and withheld it. Even if he didn’t technically commit a breach of journalistic ethics, he sure came close, and my general complaint about the flabbiness of racing journalism still stands.

Posted in Misdeeds & Wrongdoing on April 12, 2005

CHRB Investigates

“The California Horse Racing Board announced late Sunday that it was reviewing events prior to Sweet Catomine’s fifth-place finish in the $750,000 race at Santa Anita.” Good. More transparency and accountability in this sport, please. (Blood-Horse)
Is the story more complicated than initially reported? Bill Christine writes, “George Slender, a Santa Anita steward, said that there were reports that Sweet Catomine hadn’t been moved at all, and that this was one of the issues state investigators were addressing.” (LA Times)
Continuing fallout: Sweet Catomine and other horses owned by Marty and Pam Wygod have been moved from trainer Julio Canani’s barn to that of John Shirreffs. “Shirreffs, who has other horses for the Wygods, described it as a ‘tough situation.'” (Blood-Horse)

Posted in Misdeeds & Wrongdoing on April 11, 2005

Another Milkshaker Caught

Adam Kitchingman is now the fourth Santa Anita trainer to be cited for running a horse with excess carbon dioxide levels. His horses, along with those of Julio Canani, Vladimir Cerin, and Jeff Mullins — who were cited earlier in the month for the offense — are now subject to a 24-hour pre-race quarantine. Here’s the twist in the story: Unlike Canani, Cerin, and Mullins, Kitchingman isn’t denying the milkshake allegation. “I got caught playing with fire, and I’ll have to reconsider what I was doing. I’m not going to deny it like everybody else who got caught. It’s not going to happen again. Unfortunately, because this is a competitive business, you do stuff you’ve got to do to try to win races.” Ah, it was the pressure to win that drove him to such desperate lengths. What’s that saying about a hot kitchen? If you can’t stand the heat, get out — don’t cheat. (Daily Racing Form)
Or, is Kitchingman denying the charge? “Like other alleged perpetrators, Kitchingman said the high test reading for total carbon dioxide must have come from feed supplements, though when asked by a reporter, he said he didn’t know which.” He does repeat the part about racing being a competitive business, so his story hasn’t changed completely. (San Diego Union-Tribune)

Posted in Misdeeds & Wrongdoing on February 24, 2005

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