Owner Gary West says he will support the decision to strip Maximum security about his victory at the 2020 Saudi Cup (G1) and caused a redistribution of $20 million in the race’s wallet.
“We trust the justice system and have been patiently waiting for legal proceedings to take place. Now that Jason Servis has pleaded guilty, we want to make it clear that if the Saudi Cup decides to redistribute the purse, We will support that decision. Hope that action will prevent similar behavior in the future. We believe that the decision to take the Saudi Cup wallet from Maximum Security and redistribute it is a the right decision,” West said in a statement released late on Tuesday.
About a month after Servis, who has coached Maximum Security for 10 starts limited by the Saudi Cup, was arrested in March 2020, Saudi Jockey Club officials closed ice the race winner’s $10 million share, saying they could not achieve fairness and rationality. decision on the outcome until the case against Servis is resolved.
Servis pleaded guilty in New York federal court on December 9 to doping the horses in his care with mislabeled and adulterated performance-enhancing drugs that regulators racing logic could not be detected in the tests.
In submitting his plea to U.S. District Court Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil, Servis told the court that Maximum Confidentiality had been administered SGF-1000, a prohibited substance that Servis had wrongly billed for the owner is “acupuncture and chiropractic.”
Servis is facing up to four years in prison on sentencing May 18, 2023.
Maximum Security won the Saudi Cup on February 29, 2020, just nine days before Servis was among the original group of 27 defendants charged with doping on Thoroughbred and Standard Horses. Also present in the arrests was Jorge Navarro, the seven-time top coach at Monmouth Park, who pleaded guilty last year and is now serving a five-year prison sentence.
At the time of the Saudi Cup, in addition to Gary West and his wife, Mary, Maximum Security was owned by the Coolmore team consisting of John Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith, now 6 years old. stallions at Ashford Stud in Kentucky.
If the son of Right where the year is disqualified Midnight Bisou who comes in second on the line, will be declared the winner and receive a prize of $10 million.
Add Doa, Benbatl third person, Many Gusto (originally Wednesday) and tacitus (fifth) will be elevated to second to fourth and their stake increased to $3.5 million for second, $2 million for third, and $1.5 million la for fourth place.
If Maximum Security were knocked out, it would be the second time he’s been stripped of his win in a tier 1 grand game. While training by Servis and running for The Wests, Maximum Security made it through the first round of the game. The 2019 Kentucky Derby was presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) but was ranked 17th for interference, becoming the only horse to be knocked out in the first place for a foul on the track in the long history of Run for the Roses.
West went to court to request that his management status be dropped, but his case was dismissed in November 2019.
Servis’ conviction also raises questions about whether the Maximum Security Eclipse Award received as a 3-year-old male champion in 2019 should be vacated.
Currently, Maximum Security’s racing record is 10 wins and 2 seconds after 14 starts. He made his final four starts at the age of 4 with trainer Bob Baffert, winning twice in four starts, before starting life as a stallion in 2021.
