According to the New York Racing Association, six trainers, among them Wayne Potts and Juan Vazquez, have been denied horse space for the upcoming spring meet at Aqueduct Raceway and Belmont Park.
This action does not prohibit racing coaches at Aqueduct race track or Belmont Park, just take away the daily stability. With each meeting, at the NYRA and elsewhere, the racing divisions decide which trainers can be steady on their backs and how many stalls they can fill with horses. Usually, trainers with the best horses and those with high starts per stall will get the biggest allocation.
Marvin Richards, John McAllen, Luis Miranda and Michael Simmonds were the other coaches who were denied stalls.
Several coaches who were denied stalls have been suspended or are contesting suspensions in other racing jurisdictions, including Potts and Vazquez.
Pat McKenna, NYRA’s vice president of communications, issued the following statement on behalf of the organization:
“NYRA retains the sole and absolute discretion to grant, refuse, withdraw, or reduce booth space to licensed trainers at its facilities. After completing the booth registration process for the tournament With the spring 2022 meeting at the Aqueduct Raceway and the 2022 spring/summer meeting at Belmont Park, the NYRA declined the stall allocation for coaches Wayne Potts, Juan Vazquez, Marvin Richards, John McAllen, Luis Miranda and Michael Simmonds Trainers were notified of the decision earlier this week and will be asked to leave their current stalls or move horses under their care by March 30. Bonnie Lucas, An assistant to Potts, applied for a stall after Potts refused to open a stall, and her application was denied.
“These trainers are licensed to compete in Thoroughbred racing in New York and are currently authorized to race at the NYRA circuit.
“Regardless of country of origin, all horses transported to race at NYRA tracks are subject to the same level of health and safety monitoring as horses that are rammed onto NYRA property. These protocols effective in reducing risk, enhancing equine safety and protecting the integrity of sport in New York.”
Potts said Daily race form, which first reported on the NYRA’s stabilization decision, that he has 47 horses currently in Belmont and plans to move them to a training center in New Jersey. He pointed out to Sample that “all of my (owners) are with me. I’m still going to run here.”
The NYRA’s stability decisions have prevented the removal of coaches from racing at the NYRA, although coaches typically participate in most of the races where they are based.
After removing trainer Bob Baffert from joining its tracks last summer and being turned over in court after a judge asked if the NYRA would accept him due to due process without a hearing or not, the NYRA currently has a system in place to assess whether a coach should be suspended or excluded from a race. Such matters are now brought before a hearing officer before a decision on sanctions is made.
The form reports that, as of Friday, no coach has been issued with a statement accusing coaches Baffert and later Marcus Vitali of having been brought forward by the NYRA over disciplinary issues. Those allegations could lead to them being suspended or no longer racing at the NYRA tracks.
