Horse Racing Capsules: Pa. racetrack trainer accused of doping horses
GRANTVILLE, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania horse trainer was charged Wednesday with trying to rig races at Penn National Race Course by injecting horses with performance-enhancing drugs.
State police charged Darryl Delahoussaye, 47, of Harrisburg, with rigging a publicly exhibited contest, administering drugs to race horses, tampering with evidence and theft. Court records also spell his first name Darrel.
A Dauphin County grand jury investigation concluded that Delahoussaye gave horses banned items — including snake venom and an anti-inflammatory substance — before they raced at the track outside Harrisburg.
He also was charged with reselling three injured horses after promising they would be retired to a petting zoo, but at least one of those horses subsequently raced three times in Massachusetts, according to the grand jury report issued Friday.
State police said Delahoussaye had two employees remove evidence from a barn at Penn National in an attempt to foil investigators.
Delahoussaye was released on $20,000 bond. A district court official said he did not have a lawyer on file, and a listed phone number for him could not be located.
A horse-owner Delahoussaye had been working for, Michael Gill of Derry, N.H., was barred from Penn National in February after a series of horse breakdowns and a boycott by jockeys fearful for their safety.
Gill, who won 370 races last year and earned $6.7 million, is out of the horse racing business. Gill said Wednesday that, if the accusations against Delahoussaye are true, none of it was done at his request. Gill, who has not been charged, said he is not under investigation and has done nothing illegal.
Blue Chagall wins stakes at Del Mar
DEL MAR, Calif. (AP) — Blue Chagall charged to the lead in the upper stretch and went on to win the $80,300 Wickerr Stakes bY 1¼ lengths at Del Mar on Wednesday.
Ridden by David Flores, Blue Chagall ran a mile on the Jimmy Durante turf course in 1:34.19 and paid $24, $10.80 and $5.60 at 11-1 odds.
Aggie Engineer returned $8.40 and $4.60, and 6-5 favorite Gallant Son paid $2.60 to show.
The victory was worth $48,180 for Blue Chagall, who has five wins in 22 career starts.
Joel Rosario rode three winners on the card.
Patrick Valenzuela finished third aboard Warrensmysterydice in the sixth race in his return to riding in Southern California. The 47-year-old jockey, with a history of alcohol and substance abuse, was granted a probationary license last week by the California Horse Racing Board. The group revoked his license in 2008 after he was arrested for drunken driving.
Valenzuela had been riding in Louisiana the last two years.
Perfect Shirl wins Lake George Stakes
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. (AP) — Perfect Shirl rallied to overtake Exclusive Love in the deep stretch and won the $150,000 Lake George Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Saratoga Race Course on Wednesday.
The Toronto-based Perfect Shirl, ridden by John Velazquez and sent off at odds of 9-1, finished three-quarters of a length in front of 57-1 long shot Exclusive Love. No Explaining, at 16-1, finished third, and 27-1 choice Khanord Kid was fourth, resulting in a $103,014 superfecta payoff.
It was Perfect Shirl's third straight victory, the first two coming at Woodbine in Canada. She ran 1 1-16 miles over a firm course in 1:41.28 and earned $90,000 for owner Charles Fipke.
Perfect Shirl paid $20.60, $12.20 and $8. Exclusive Love paid $43 and $17.80, and No Explaining returned $9 to show.
