The Meadowlands Racetrack has issued a press release indicating that a hearing has been scheduled for later today (Saturday, Nov. 14) regarding the drive of Bee A Magician in the second race on Friday night, and a new policy has been implemented requiring all trainers to submit updates on their entered horses to the race office.
Bee A Magician finished fourth as the 1-2 race favourite in the $25,000 leg of the TVG Mares Open Trot, which was won by Shake It Cerry in 1:53.3. Bee A Magician was driven by Brian Sears for trainer Richard "Nifty" Norman.
The release states that Meadowlands Chairman Jeff Gural believes "the effort put forth on the racetrack was unacceptable" and he was "flabbergasted by what transpired and believes the betting public needs to be protected."
A hearing will be held with Sears today and The Meadowlands will release an update on the results of the investigation.
The release also explains a new policy, effective immediately, that requires all trainers that have entered horses to race at The Meadowlands to supply a comment regarding how their horse trained a minimum of 72 hours prior to the race day. The report will be included in the live race program and will be accessible in the “race review” portion of The Meadowlands website.
The full release from The Meadowlands can be read below.
A hearing has been scheduled for Saturday, regarding the drive of Bee A Magician in the second race at The Meadowlands on Friday night. Meadowlands Chairman Jeff Gural was flabbergasted by what transpired and believes the betting public needs to be protected. The matter will be investigated and a course of action regarding this race will proceed accordingly. A hearing has been scheduled with Brian Sears for later today. After the conclusion of the hearing, an update will be offered to our customers and the industry. In addition, a meeting of the drivers and trainers has been scheduled for 6:15 this evening where this matter will most certainly be spoken about.
Mr. Gural made it clear to Bee A Magician’s trainer Richard “Nifty” Norman that the effort put forth on the racetrack was unacceptable and to Mr. Norman’s credit he understood and agreed that it was a mistake for Brian Sears to drive the horse so conservatively although because the horse had been tying up he did tell Brian to try not to race her on the front end.
After consulting with and at the suggestion of several trainers that Mr. Gural spoke with, it has been decided that going forward every trainer will be obligated to give the race office an update on how the horse they are entering has been training so that information can be provided to our customers, who are the betting public. Without them, we would not exist and they must be protected. The information will be printed in our live program and will be available on our website as well.
Effective immediately, all trainers that have entered horses to race at The Meadowlands will be required to supply a comment regarding how their horse trained a minimum of 72 hours prior to the race day and that report will be included in the live race program and will be accessible in the “race review” portion of The Meadowlands website. It is expected that all trainers with horses racing on Friday will submit an update on how their horse trained no later than 5:00 p.m. Tuesday and horses entered for Saturday are required to have their update submitted no later than 5:00 p.m. Wednesday.
All trainers are to submit the update on how their horse trained to the email address [email protected].
In the event a trainer does not have e-mail access, he is asked to provide the update over the phone to The Meadowlands race office.
If a trainer does not provide the necessary information, the race office will call the trainer until he/she is reached.
This policy is being implemented to protect the betting public as they are the reason we are all here. We thank the horsemen for their anticipated cooperation in this matter.
(With files from Meadowlands Racetrack)
Why in the world does anyone
Why in the world does anyone think asking trainers to report how their horses train is a good idea? Too much information if you ask me and no way to verify if it's accurate. I applaud Gural for trying to clean up the sport but let the vet determine if a horse should race. I go to great lengths to get information when I handicap but come race day the final determination on which horse to bet ALWAYS depends on how they appear in the post parade and how they score. The guessing game that comes with information on how they've trained I don't need.
I understand what perception
I understand what perception means to someone that has bet on the outcome of a race.
My question is what will happen when the trainers tell the race office they trained their horse in 2:05 knowing full well that he actually trained in :58. Excuses to follow will be "he was flat," "he was locked one line," or "he has been off his feed a bit this week". Now you have opened a huge can of worms for the gamblers who will immediately complain about inaccurate information in the race program.
Mr Chris Bush... what you and
Mr Chris Bush... what you and apparently others commenting on this situation are unaware of, is that the race in question WAS NOT an elimination race.
I agree fully with Mr. O'
I agree fully with Mr. O' Donnell's assessment. The race didn't work out nothing more nothing less.
Well I think that there are
Well I think that there are too many JUDGES that do not know what the phrase LACK OF EFFORT means. The business needs more judges like Mr. Claire Smith, when he was judging, you would not get away with a lack of effort drive, specially if you were a favourite.
Times have changed since
Times have changed since those other than judges have had immediate and primary responsibility for racing integrity. To Mr. Gural's credit he's seeking to protect the public and his investment. However, to take his concern to another level perhaps all stake elimination races should be non wagering. They are often raced no differently. As an aside what happens when a horse trains flawlessly, as we've all seen; this is reported to the race office and to the public and that effort isn't duplicated under the lights? Creating special rules for isolated events sometimes don't work. Reminding horsepersons that hitting the entry box means an entrant is prepared for a full effort might be an alternate solution. If the outcome is inconsistent with that effort (hold on), put them on the qualifying list.
Mr O'donnell, as a driver, I
Mr O'donnell, as a driver, I would expect you not to see a problem with this. I agree with you as well, but you cant suggest this horse was given a steer with the intentions of winning. How can you suggest that is good for the public? I would love to have seen the notes, "we are going to try this horse from the back this week due to......" and there is no way you would have seen the same odds on this horse. Not a chance. A few of us would have laid off this horse.
Mr O'donnell, the betting public is the most important part of the sport, and if you burn us like this and think that is okay, forgive me from wanting out of this sport and wanting to play cards or bet on other sports. If my player on daily fantasy has any kind of injury, I know about it. Football goes as far as posting who practices and if they are in full practice or limited or not.
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Mr Doig. No disrespect, but you cant be serious with your comment. You train horses and used to drive them, and if you knew that you were "just going to get a clean line" and couldnt at least say "we are going for a clean line and might have to be extra carefull" or "we are trying new shoes this week" or anything like that, why should the public not know any of this? Remember....... we the bettors, DO NOT NEED YOU, and we have other options. ALL information is decent information and some might be used by some bettors, and not by others. If you are not willing to see that other pro sports are smart enough to provide us the fans/bettors with all possible information, then you might not wanna be apart of the future of gambling, which your sport relies on. If not, hire a PR guy. I see many of the young drivers, Lorne House and a few others, tweet about each drive they have and give a tiny bit of info, is it useful? Not always, but it is there. It takes 5 minutes to do.
I have stated this sport needs to modernize itself, and it is stunning that the same guy is doing this over and over again, but Ontario isnt picking up on what he is doing.
I think I am going to just stick to Western Fair and the Meadowlands, simply because I believe in the product they have, and the people running it.
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Mr Middleton, I agree the regulators should be doing this....... especially in Ontario.
Sires stake eliminations are the biggest joke in the world to bet on most times. Guys with legit monster horses are always just getting the job done second or third and not even out carving and urging, because second or third is good enough to get on to the finals the following week. Betting these things is pointless.
another thought....maybe make
another thought....maybe make these prep race situations non betting
Too often it's a courtesy
Too often it's a courtesy trip around the track to get into the final in too many big race eliminations. You'd have to be crazy to bet much money in these races not knowing the trainer or driver intent. Perhaps the eliminations need to go for substantially more money and the final a little less. Ken is right too. ANY race where there is a suspicious effort should be seriously looked into by the judges. Most handicappers just ask for a fair effort.
WOW!! So just because she's
WOW!! So just because she's the favorite nifty and sears have to put her on the front everytime. Maybe fine them for a slow half. Sears makes his move and horse in front of him can't keep up. Definitely not Sears' fault. Some people in power can make some stupid decisions.
So Brian Sears is slapped
So Brian Sears is slapped with a 15-day suspension for 'lack of judgment in his driving performance' with Bee A Magician on Nov. 13 at The Meadowlands.
What I want to know is, why is Jeff Gural forced to be the police in this matter? Why aren't the regulators in the state of New Jersey taking the lead on this matter?
In my opinion, the problem
In my opinion, the problem wasn't because Brian did not leave with Bee A Magician, the problem began when Bee A Magician was forced to follow Harley Momma who couldn't keep up to Shake It Cerry. That gave Shake It Cerry a chance to open up on the rest of the field. Bee A Magician had too much ground to make up in the last quarter. I see no malice in how Brian drove Bee A Magician.
Certainly not the style that
Certainly not the style that this mare usually races or is driven. That being said hats off once again to Mr. Gural for doing something about driving inconsistencies and trying to protect the public. Racing sure could use more like him.
I totally agree and have been
I totally agree and have been saying this forever that the public should have more insight into how a horse is coming into a particular race. And in saying that I must note I have no problem with Sears drive the problem was that the public didn't realise he was going to make an effort to take back and race off the pace. Sending a horse week in and week out is very unfavorable to the horse. While on the subject of giving the punter a fair shake, what about the pathetic attempts by these race tracks whose surfaces just plain suck! You come to the track with your horse and tonight it's harder than the hubs of hell, with some 'marbles' skiffed along the surface just enough that unless the horse is corked up to extremes it's slipping all over the place and races 10 seconds off form if it is fortunate enough to stay on its feet. All race tracks should have to condition their surfaces, floating them into concrete because there is a cloud in the sky and it just might rain is just plain cheap and lazy. The make track conditioners for a reason... use them!! You can't shoe a horse properly if you have no idea from one day to the next what to expect from the track surface. Hard tracks do nothing but make horses lame.
First off I like some of Mr.
First off I like some of Mr. Gural's ideas, such as having horses race past their 3YO year. But this is a little much! Race track owners can now determine how trainers train and how drivers drive? Obviously BAM hasn't been herself lately, she needed a trip that bravened her up and make her eligible for the final. She has been racing against the best horses in the world all year and doing a great job!
As far as reporting 72 hrs before on training? Some people don't train horses that far out or don't train between races at all! So you are now going to publish a statement that has no weight on the upcoming race what so ever. Do we really believe that a trainer is going to say "my horse hasn't been eating all week, so we just turned her out instead of jogging and training"? I don't think so!
I have never had big money behind me while in this business, but I do care about horses and it is a great passion of mine. For me we do the right thing by the horse, because that is why we do this! Money is secondary!
WELL WELL WELL: A similar
WELL WELL WELL: A similar policy was introduced long ago in the Major Thoroughbred Tracks in the Orient. There they even go further and the Jockeys are asked there basic riding style/intentions in a race. You may recall Mr. Gural has used The Professional Labs in China to detect designer drugs being used in Harness Racing. For far too long the betting public has had no idea of the tactics a Trainer and or a Driver (such as the information admitted to by Mr. Norman and Mr. Sears.), while the insiders profit from it. The action of Mr. Gural is to be commended and such action is long overdue. It does however beg the question, what took so long and why??