ARIZONA RACING FROM INTEGRITY?
By Ray Paulick
It’s a common belief that the court system gives a racetrack owner private property rights to exclude anyone it chooses from its premises. That doesn’t seem to be the case, however, particularly when the individual being excluded holds a state license to practice his profession on racetrack grounds.
Just last week, Judge Brian R. Hauser, in the Superior Court of Maricopa County in Arizona, issued an under-advisement ruling permitting jockey Enrique Garcia to continue riding at Turf Paradise after the Phoenix track had served him a “Notice of Exclusion” on Dec. 23, 2009. The court on Jan. 28, 2010, had already issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting Turf Paradise from excluding Garcia from engaging in his occupation as a licensed jockey, but the most recent order converted the restraining order to a preliminary injunction. Garcia will be able to ride until further notice.
According to Judge Hauser’s ruling (which can be viewed here), Turf Paradise management began to suspect in the spring of 2009 that jockey Garcia was also training horses at Turf Paradise without a license. Specifically, it was suspected he was training horses owned by A Double Monkey Stables, although the trainer of record for Double Monkey was someone named Leonard Espinoza. Turf Paradise management suspected Espinoza was merely a “paper trainer,” meaning he lent his name and trainer’s license so the stable owner could get stalls at the track.
The ruling said Turf Paradise took no action against any of the parties involved in this activity, nor did it report the apparent rules violations to the Arizona Department of Racing, which oversees licensing and regulations in the state.
In a $3,500 claiming race at 5 1/2 furlongs on Dec. 20, 2009, a horse named I Xcell finished first by 2 3/4 lengths for A Double Monkey Stable at odds of 31-1, with Jose Medina riding instead of Garcia, who had ridden the horse in six previous starts. Garcia rode the 8-5 favorite, Fire Talker, who was last for the first half-mile and passed three horses in the stretch to finish a non-threatening fourth.
Stewards disqualified I Xcell for alleged interference against the original third-place finisher. Equibase chart footnotes of the race said I Xcell “drifted in just slightly passing the sixteenth pole,” but also said the runner-up in the race “drifted out some” near the sixteenth pole, the area where the third-place finisher was “steadied.” Judge Hauser’s ruling said the disqualification became a “cause célèbre in the racing community for a time,” and I Xcell’s owner has appealed the disqualification.
The owner of Fire Talker testified that Garcia “did not deliberately restrain Fire Talker in the race” and does not “suspect any improper behavior” by the jockey in the race, according to the ruling. “No evidence was presented that Turf Paradise or the racing stewards have accused Garcia of misconduct affecting the race,” the Superior Court ruling said.
However, three days after the race, Garcia was served a “Notice of Exclusion” by Turf Paradise general manager Eugene Joyce, stating that the track is private property and that Garcia “had engaged in conduct detrimental to racing.”
Joyce, according to the court ruling, believed Garcia had hidden ownership in two horses owned by Carlily Ojeda (co-owner of I Xcell), and that Garcia and Ojeda were “romantically involved.” At a hearing, Garcia denied any relationship with Ojeda.As a result of the circumstances, Joyce testified that he had a problem with Garcia, A Double Monkey Stable owner Miguel Flores, trainer Espinoza and co-owner Ojeda. However, Turf Paradise took no action against anyone other than Garcia and, according to the court, “did not refer Garcia or the others to the (Arizona Department of Racing.).”
It’s a common belief that the court system gives a racetrack owner private property rights to exclude anyone it chooses from its premises. That doesn’t seem to be the case, however, particularly when the individual being excluded holds a state license to practice his profession on racetrack grounds.
Just last week, Judge Brian R. Hauser, in the Superior Court of Maricopa County in Arizona, issued an under-advisement ruling permitting jockey Enrique Garcia to continue riding at Turf Paradise after the Phoenix track had served him a “Notice of Exclusion” on Dec. 23, 2009. The court on Jan. 28, 2010, had already issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting Turf Paradise from excluding Garcia from engaging in his occupation as a licensed jockey, but the most recent order converted the restraining order to a preliminary injunction. Garcia will be able to ride until further notice.
According to Judge Hauser’s ruling (which can be viewed here), Turf Paradise management began to suspect in the spring of 2009 that jockey Garcia was also training horses at Turf Paradise without a license. Specifically, it was suspected he was training horses owned by A Double Monkey Stables, although the trainer of record for Double Monkey was someone named Leonard Espinoza. Turf Paradise management suspected Espinoza was merely a “paper trainer,” meaning he lent his name and trainer’s license so the stable owner could get stalls at the track.
The ruling said Turf Paradise took no action against any of the parties involved in this activity, nor did it report the apparent rules violations to the Arizona Department of Racing, which oversees licensing and regulations in the state.
In a $3,500 claiming race at 5 1/2 furlongs on Dec. 20, 2009, a horse named I Xcell finished first by 2 3/4 lengths for A Double Monkey Stable at odds of 31-1, with Jose Medina riding instead of Garcia, who had ridden the horse in six previous starts. Garcia rode the 8-5 favorite, Fire Talker, who was last for the first half-mile and passed three horses in the stretch to finish a non-threatening fourth.
Stewards disqualified I Xcell for alleged interference against the original third-place finisher. Equibase chart footnotes of the race said I Xcell “drifted in just slightly passing the sixteenth pole,” but also said the runner-up in the race “drifted out some” near the sixteenth pole, the area where the third-place finisher was “steadied.” Judge Hauser’s ruling said the disqualification became a “cause célèbre in the racing community for a time,” and I Xcell’s owner has appealed the disqualification.
The owner of Fire Talker testified that Garcia “did not deliberately restrain Fire Talker in the race” and does not “suspect any improper behavior” by the jockey in the race, according to the ruling. “No evidence was presented that Turf Paradise or the racing stewards have accused Garcia of misconduct affecting the race,” the Superior Court ruling said.
However, three days after the race, Garcia was served a “Notice of Exclusion” by Turf Paradise general manager Eugene Joyce, stating that the track is private property and that Garcia “had engaged in conduct detrimental to racing.”
Joyce, according to the court ruling, believed Garcia had hidden ownership in two horses owned by Carlily Ojeda (co-owner of I Xcell), and that Garcia and Ojeda were “romantically involved.” At a hearing, Garcia denied any relationship with Ojeda.As a result of the circumstances, Joyce testified that he had a problem with Garcia, A Double Monkey Stable owner Miguel Flores, trainer Espinoza and co-owner Ojeda. However, Turf Paradise took no action against anyone other than Garcia and, according to the court, “did not refer Garcia or the others to the (Arizona Department of Racing.).”
Judge Hauser wrote that “strong circumstantial evidence” suggested the exclusion was not based on hidden ownership or unlicensed training but on Garcia’s “riding in the Dec. 20 race, for which he has not been accused of anything.”
The court ruled Garcia “has a protected right to engage in business as a jockey as long as he holds a jockeys license. That right must be balanced against defendant’s private property rights.” It found “on the record developed so far” that Turf Paradise’s decision to exclude Garcia was “unreasonable under all the circumstances because it was pretextual. If defendant’s evidence is true, it was aware for over six months that Garcia may have been involved in training horses yet it took no action to exclude him or to report this illegal activity to the Department.”
“The balance of hardships tips far in plaintiff’s favor,” and Garcia’s “need to earn a living outweighs (Turf Paradise’s) need to preserve its right to control who enters on to its property.”
Finally, the court wrote, “The integrity of the racing industry is a matter of public importance. Given that (Turf Paradise)…was content to permit Garcia to ride in races over a seven-month period despite believing him to be training horses with the assistance of a ‘paper’ trainer, convinces the court that the industry can endure the issues raised in this case until final judgment.”
In other words, Turf Paradise screwed up by looking the other way at an alleged activity that violated racing rules over a number of months and by not reporting the alleged violations to the state’s regulatory agency.
Would it be that much of a stretch to suggest the disqualification of I Xcell from the Dec. 20 Turf Paradise race may have come not because of interference at the sixteenth pole but because track management believed games were being played by Garcia and possibly others? Disqualifying I Xcell would prevent any alleged conspirators from cashing a big ticket on the race. If that was the case, Arizona racing has a serious problem with integrity.
Copyright © 2010, The Paulick Report
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Tags: arizona department of racing, carlily ojeda, double monkey stable, enrique garcia, eugene joyce, fire talker, Horse Racing, i xcell, miguel flores, notice of exclusion, Paulick Report, racetrack exclusion, Ray Paulick, turf paradise
February 22nd, 2010 at 4:54 pm
Wagering on races at a $3,500 claiming level? Might as well try to get odds on tonight’s WWE matches airing on cable-TV. The final paragraph sums everything up….and one would have to be extremely stupid to not realize that bush tracks with bush riders are going to have rasslin’ matches for “races.”
February 22nd, 2010 at 5:05 pm
Sounds like New Mexico !
February 22nd, 2010 at 5:10 pm
“INTEGRITY” or lack of it is the most important issue that the industry has made no effort to address… public perception is reality.
Integrity is the one issue that could put a silver bullet in the heart of our game….We can do a lot better, so why do our leaders ignore this most important issue?
rwwupl
February 22nd, 2010 at 5:13 pm
I think the last statement is somewhat incorrect … Arizona may or may not have a serious problem with integrity, but if the facts reported here are true, then Turf Paradise certainly does.
February 22nd, 2010 at 5:13 pm
Wow!! A bush league track that stiffed the Paulick Report during its’ Breeder’s Cup fundraising drive is in the business of possibly fabricating inquiries to do the dirty work of a kangaroo court.
Eugene Joyce continues to generate newsworthy items.
February 22nd, 2010 at 7:02 pm
Integrity is to horse racing like horseradish is to penguins.
February 22nd, 2010 at 7:10 pm
The integrity of racing in Arizona? How many trainers are training horses there with bad tests outstanding? I just seemed to read about a trainer that is racing there that has several bad tests from last summer at Prescott and has continued training at Turf Paradise. Why not call him a persona non grata and exclude him from the grounds? Arizona is the biggest waste in horse racing.
February 22nd, 2010 at 7:38 pm
All horse racing in every state has a problem with integrity. That’s why it’s going down the tubes
February 22nd, 2010 at 7:58 pm
Finally, the court wrote, “The integrity of the racing industry is a matter of public importance. Given that (Turf Paradise)…was content to permit Garcia to ride in races over a seven-month period despite believing him to be training horses with the assistance of a ‘paper’ trainer, convinces the court that the industry can endure the issues raised in this case until final judgment.”…
Hmmmm….
That’s a curious opinion among several issued by the court.
Suffice it to say, while the track (and regulatory agencies) clearly could have handled the issue significantly better - it seems quite a stretch to suggest that preserving the livelihood of one individual and his due process supercedes the need to preserve the livelihood and due process of the thousands of others engaged in the industry that suffer as a result of this unethical, if not illegal conduct. Run off more customers keenly aware of this balderdash, watch handle decline further, adversely affect the overwhelming majority - so that one knucklehead rider can continue to violate the rules…
At least racing now has an accomplice in the court system efforting to self-destruct the industry.
February 22nd, 2010 at 8:15 pm
Seemed like a little bit of a bogus DQ. The winner, at 30-1, had 584 dollars to win on her in the win pool out of a total of about 24,000. It seemed like the horse who was ‘bothered’ was ‘grabbing up’ even before the ‘incident’. Watch the rider of the horse who supposedly got bothered, he puts his whip away way before the winner came over an inch or two. When nothing happened, the jock decided to put on a show anyway and make it look worse than it was. In fact, the 2nd place finisher was coming out and i believe that the jock of the 3rd place finisher just overreacted when he saw the inside horse drifting. The 3rd place jock ‘panicked’ and put his two hands on the reigns and appeared ‘ready’ to grab up to avoid the drifting inside horse….at that very moment, the winner came in an inch just as the 3rd place rider was putting on a show of overreaction…so, it was kind of a bad beat for the winner that the 3rd place horse’s jockey was overreacting to another horse who was drifting and put on his ’stand up act’ just at the very moment the winner shifted in a hair.
This stuff normally gets let stand, this was a nitpick at its finest. Makes me not want to wager on any races over there if horses like this are getting DQd.
Its a shame that the stewards are dragging along paying customers on their point proving missions.
February 22nd, 2010 at 8:27 pm
What about that AZ trainer who had (still has???) gallons of vodka in his barn? Is he still there? Does he still need gallons of vodka to train and race his horses?
Scum, doping, cruelty, cheating, race fixing are tolerated in horse racing because it is all about money. Instead of hiring expensive consultants and forming committees and sub-committees, instead of debating surfaces and hiding how many horses are injured and really killed, instead of hiding the medical conditions of horses and their injuries, what is done and injected to make them run, instead of still wondering (at least in public) why so many horses are killed while refusing to face the truth, instead of wondering how to market racing and attract young people and new owners, instead of offering huge purses for poor cheap claimers… FIRST: racing needs to clean-up and eliminate abuse, drugs and thugs.
“Law and order” shouldn’t be left to officials and commissioners who are potentially conflicted locals. Travis Tygart, the Senior Managing Director and General Counsel for the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) said in front of Congress that “a sport cannot police itself”. Damn right!
Racing cannot and is unwilling to police itself at the state level.
The only way to clean-up racing is by forming a central authority and reduce racing in order to adequately fund integrity, transparency, security, drug-less racing and equine safety and welfare on and off track.
February 22nd, 2010 at 8:37 pm
Integrity In racing,how’s about integrity with the press.They like to print and condemn.
We get shunned by Turf over The Breeder’s Cup fundraiser,we force Gill out of the business;The Paulick Report has kind of become the National Enquiry of the business.You spurn us we’ll spurn you.
Preserving the livelihood of one individual,I guess that’s OK as long as your not that individual.But if your that individual then I’m sure he really does care about his livelihood,Fact remains that this supposedly went on for 7 months and they did nothing till one finally won at high odds and then you’d have to wonder if taking the horse down was questionable for the integrity of racing or beneficial to Turf Paradise.I remember when the AQHA thought they could control embryo transfer and Artificial Insemination on the basis that it was their rule
I noticed last week that The Bloodhorse printed a story that possibly the clique of The Jockey’s Colony at Penn National is not so about the integrity of racing refusing to ride Gill’s horses but for the integrity of themselves in that they,not the trainers,not the owners,not racing officials control all racing at Penn National.I don’t support Gill but I do also question jockeys especially jockeys at Penn National.Gill brought up a good point,if his horses are so bad why hasn’t a jockey refused to ride one at Philadelphia Park ?Yet he spins 3 riders in December at Penn National and starts using other riders and the 3 have power over all other jockeys in the way of threats-refuse to ride Gill’s horses or else?Don’t think it can happen,Ray.I’ve seen jockeys literally dropped in races by other riders just because they decided to go against the flow of some jockey colonies.Some of these jockeys are as crooked as a harry lauder walking stick than Gill ever was.
How’s about a follow-up story on that Ray.I’d like to know more.I’ve heard of it in the past and never went to Penn to run because most said if you don’t kiss azz and do what they say then you’ll go broke racing at Penn and your horses will be even worse for wear.My own opinion is I think Penn needs to dig a lot deeper than just Gill.Course maybe that’s what that state police investigation is all about at Penn right now.
Needless to say Ray,I was quite dissappointed that you didn’t blog about something deeper at Penn with possibly the jockey colony.Instead let’s pick on one rider at Turf.
Integrity comes in many forms,participants and the press.
February 22nd, 2010 at 8:42 pm
Saw that Mr. Espinoza and Mr. Garcia were at the top of the standings at the recently concluded Rillito race meet–maybe TUP didn’t like the guys running horses at another track?
February 22nd, 2010 at 8:48 pm
The individual whom is interested in preserving his livelihood announced his willingness to compromise that wish when he knowingly and repeatedly acted in violation of the rules.
Respectfully, the court certainly seemed to support the track’s claim of misconduct in violation of his license, but their objection was with the track’s protocol for acting upon the violations. Therefore, I find an argument about an individual that “cares about his livelihood” as a rebuttal to be shallow at best.
February 22nd, 2010 at 9:28 pm
Not to worry, Lonny Powell heads AZ racing, just ducky.
February 22nd, 2010 at 10:00 pm
Imagine - a horse I bred and once raced is now infamous. Poor Fire Talker, too bad he can’t talk.
February 22nd, 2010 at 10:24 pm
Gee would the Fact Mr. Joyce and Mr. Espinoza’s daughter are QUITE CLOSE have anything to do with Mr. Joyce trying to do an end run around Department of Racing?
February 23rd, 2010 at 10:47 am
What happened at TP is nothing new..Stuff like that has been going on @ minor tracks since the begining of time..For example>does anyone remember what a minor track’s owner did???? & got away with it forever…THE OWNER HAD A RULE>>BEFORE YOU COULD TRY TO WIN A RACE AT HIS RACETRACK , YOU HAD TO GET PERMISSION FROM HIM TO TURN YOUR HORSE LOOSE .IF YOU DIDNT GET HIS PERMISSION & YOU WON THE RACE,YOU WOULD BE BANNED FROM HIS TRACK FOREVER…now does anyone on this site know what track it was & who was the owner??? i thought so
February 23rd, 2010 at 11:01 am
eeebayou - Neither Leonard Espinoza nor Enrique Garcia were at the top of the standings at the Rillito meet. You need to get your facts straight before posting in a public forum.
Steve Hancock was the leading jockey, followed by Floyd Campbell
Charles Acosta was the leading trainer, who was tied with Ricardo Ramirez
February 23rd, 2010 at 11:46 am
Anyone who refers to Turf as the bushes, and rightly so, needs to pay a visit to Rillito and it’s $1,250 claiming races! That’s Arizona racing for ya.
Spent a little time there and for pure entertainment value it can’t be beat. I wouldn’t be gambling too much on the outcome though and the same goes for TUPand for obvious reasons.
February 23rd, 2010 at 11:57 am
Re #19:
Equibase leader standings at Rillito as of 02/21/2010 had both Espinoza and Garcia at the top of the list. Maybe the standings only include thoroughbred races? I try to do my research before I post anywhere.
Regardless, congrats to all of the guys and gals who ply their trade at tracks like Rillito. Lots of hard work and time spent grinding out a living. Looks like the winner-take-all QH stake was a big success.
February 23rd, 2010 at 10:04 pm
I personally have known Espinoza for almost 20 years this man is a straight shooter who at one time would not even let me feed/walk one of his horses without a proper valid race track license. I can also say he has absolutely no clue where to place a horse or how to read his condition book hence his consistaint low win numbers. How does he survive in racing ? Easy he has a HUGE ranch including other paying gigs outside of racing and was at one time even a mutual teller at now closed Prescott Downs.
hmmmm i bet someone at one of the race books knows what was going on.
I think people forgot about 15 years ago Vegas stopped taking Turf Paradise signal due to questionable racing results. soon after there was a shake up in management and the signal was restored
You should see the so called racing on the az fair circuit it makes TUP look like Churchill Downs
February 24th, 2010 at 1:59 am
#20 In a strange way this made me feel a bit nostalgic, reminded me of Yarmouth 50 years ago the Old Man, Pat Moore, Dave Thom, Basil Foster, "Fiddler" Goodwill and Peter Poston were the trainers. You should see "Who's Who" in the maiden races at places like that now!
Now, A Question: What do you think would happen to your pure entertainment if they got slots and very moderate horses were running for ten or 15x the money?
February 24th, 2010 at 12:32 pm
my dad enrique garcia is the best jockey in the world
February 24th, 2010 at 2:09 pm
Good then it won’t be too much trouble to go visit him and the rest of his trainers on Sundays when they are convicted of race fixing, a Federal Offence.
February 25th, 2010 at 2:17 pm
Young Man, #23, If your Dad is the best jockey in the world, why would he be riding at Turf Paradise? Maybe because the state of Arizona tends to overlook things?? Many of us are hoping the new Director of Racing in Az. is going to clean some of this crap up. You cannot tell me his investigators didn’t know about this. I will give him the benefit of the doubt tho till he gets his feet on the ground. By the way, Mr. Garcia got how much out of that account?? $7000? I would have to go back and read the document included in this article to make sure.
February 25th, 2010 at 10:36 pm
YOu should LEAVE Enrique’s KID alone…Why punish his KID for a crime for which he has NOT been convicted…
LEAVE the KID alone…PLease.
February 26th, 2010 at 2:10 pm
How much are jock mounts that Garcia would get $7,000? Don’t those fees get deducted by bookkeeper? Why would he be getting a check out of that account? WEIRD?
February 26th, 2010 at 8:17 pm
That’s the point, R U Kiddin Me?. Jockey fees are deposited in each of the jockeys track account handled by the horsemen’s bookkeeper. The jockey fees are deducted from the owners accounts and deposited into the jockeys accounts. Garcia didn’t earn $7,000+ in jockey fees which means someone else was depositing money into his account.
It would be quite interesting to find out just who was depositing all that money into Garcia’s track account.