Snake Venom Milkshakes Not Just For McDonald’s Patrons Anymore
Pennsylvania rules bar injections to race horses on race day other than lasix and estrum. I’m pretty sure, however, that no matter what day it is, they also scoff at shooting horses full of snake venom and milkshakes full of discarded medical waste.
See, no one tells horse trainer Darryl Delahoussaye anything.
From Thoroughbred Times:
Pennsylvania trainer Darrel Delahoussaye was arrested on Wednesday and charged with attempting to fix races at Penn National Race Course, based on evidence and testimony that he administered milkshakes and snake venom to horses before they raced.
State police charged Delahoussaye … with two felony counts of theft by deception and one misdemeanor count each of rigging a publicly exhibited contest, administering drugs to race horses, and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence.
Frankly, the sterilized charges of what Delahoussaye will most likely go to jail for don’t do justice to the batty lowliness of his alleged crimes. Luckily, if there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s desterilizing stuff.
Those two counts of theft by deception? A fellow trainer gave Delahoussaye three injured horses worth $2,000 apiece under the belief that he would send those horses to an out-of-state retirement facility. Instead, he sold the horses for a total of $1,350 to settle a debt. Not sure why he’s charged with only two counts of theft by deception and not three, but one of the injured horses, Storm Rising, recovered and raced at Suffolk Downs three times this spring, most recently finishing second in a $4,000 claiming race on June 7.
Then there’s the misdemeanor count of rigging a publicly exhibited contest.
Controversial owner Michael Gill fired Delahoussaye on January 24, a day after one of Gill’s horses, Laughing Moon, broke down and was euthanized after a third-place finish in an allowance race at Penn National. Laughing Moon was the second Gill-owned horse to break down there in three days, and a horse trained by Delahoussaye … broke down on January 13 and initiated a chain reaction spill.
Most would agree that if Delahoussaye injected one horse with a milkshake full of baking soda, sugar, electrolyte powder, Red Bull, DMSO (dimethylsulfoxide – an anti-inflammatory) and anything else found in the garbage, he’s almost certainly injected other horses with such a concoction. But it ain’t what you know, it’s what you can prove and so he’s getting charged for Laughing Moon.
Before Delahoussaye was fired, milkshakes were allowed to be injected in horses, just not within 24 hours of a race. Since July 15, milkshakes are no longer allowed at any time.
The administering drugs to horses (if you count snake venom as a drug, which Arizona bikers and meth addicts do) charge should be obvious. And finally, there’s the tampering with or fabricating physical evidence.
In October, three months before the Laughing Moon incident, investigators discovered items used to administer a milkshake to another Gill-owned horse, Lion’s Pride. Two months after that (a month before the Laughing Moon incident) Lion’s Pride threw his jockey, came up lame and has not raced since. This was when Delahoussaye started being watched more carefully. So carefully, in fact, he started covering his tracks.
[Stable groom James] Muzzy said he turned several bottles of … DMSO … over to a state trooper after Delahoussaye asked Muzzy to hide several medications in fear that investigators for the state racing commission would search the stable.
Delahoussaye isn’t the only one to blame here. He’s the first in line, sure. But what about the Pennsylvania State Racing Commission and the Penn National Race Course? It’s impossible to believe their hands were tied while three horses from the same owner and same trainer came up lame in the span of five weeks – especially when one considers that the Penn National jockeys collectively threatened to boycott any races holding a Gill-owned starter.
Even the best jockey’s live race-to-race. Horse-to-horse. Owner-to-owner. It’s one of the most cut-throat businesses in sports. The idea that none of the jockeys would participate in a race involving Gill, the nation’s leader in wins and earnings last year before being barred from Penn National earlier this, speaks volumes about how destructive this situation was.
So why were the jockeys able to take action in 2009, but Delahoussaye wasn’t fired until early 2010? Perhaps we’ll find out later this month – a preliminary hearing is scheduled for August 16.
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Eight Belles photo courtesy of Flickr
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