Pennsylvania managers fined owner/trainer Juan C. Vazquez $5,000 and suspended him for more than 2 and a half years in a ruling that said he was “totally negligent, cruel, and abusive.” ” in transporting a horse between racecourses that eventually died from meningitis. The suspension is expected to take place from July 18 to January 26, 2025.
According to Tom Chuckas, PHRC director of Thoroughbred horse racing, as of 9:55 a.m. on July 8, the Pennsylvania Equestrian Commission has not received a request for an appeal and suspension.
The July 7 ruling notes that on January 6, Vazquez shipped Just In Time Racing’s Bright colours are from Belmont Park arrive Racing Parx, and three days later, the mare “died of severe meningitis.” Meningitis is damage and inflammation of the tissue between the horseshoe and the underlying coffin bone.
During a hearing before the keeper June 23, “the evidence presented by veterinarian witnesses and the autopsy report clearly showed that the ‘Shining Colors’ horse was suffering from a serious chronic condition. this and should have never been transferred to Parx Racing by owner/trainer Juan C. . Vazquez,” the ruling passed to BloodHorse from PHRC states.
Vazquez, based in the northeast, last ran Shining Colors on October 17 in Belmont, where Payer mare finished seventh in an eight-horse field with $30,000 claimants. She made $56,202 compiling a 1-3-3 record in her 11 career starts.
Vazquez did not return phone messages seeking comment.
Based on Paulick’s Report, initially reporting on Pennsylvania’s action, the suspension is expected to last for the remainder of his Pennsylvania license. Some racing officials have more legal reasons for denying a new license application than revoking an existing license, the Paulick Report story notes.
Vazquez has a history of violations in multiple jurisdictions.
This spring, the New York Racing Association denied him and other coaches with a stall space checkered history. The NYRA did not send him before a hearing officer, as the executive did with Hall of Fame coach Bob Baffert and intends to do with Marcus Vitali before reaching a settlement with that coach. According to the NYRA, pending issues before the New York Gambling Commission could affect the hearing process.
In November, Vazquez trained Ekhtibaar was moved to Belmont Park and died on arrival, “cause of death unknown,” according to the death information posted on the New York Game Commission website.
Several routes in the Mid-Atlantic were previously banned or punished by Vazquez, with Delaware Park did so after he was arrested for assaulting jockey Trevor McCarthy in the winners’ circle after a 2014 race and after an equestrian drug offence. He was once a top coach in the Mid-Atlantic.
This year, Vazquez mainly ran at Parx Racing and at the NYRA tracks. He is 25 years old in 209 in 2022.
