Jockey Roman Chapa has until 5:00 p.m. Thursday to either pay a $25,000 penalty or appeal both that fine and a 5-year suspension imposed by the Sam Houston Race Park stewards, who ruled Monday that Chapa “did carry an electrical shocking device” while riding Quiet Acceleration (Silent Picture) to victory in a Texas-bred stakes race Jan. 17.
The clock is ticking on the administrative side, too. Chuck Trout, the executive director of the Texas Racing Commission, has two weeks to decide whether Chapa's fine could be increased up to $100,000.
The stewards' ruling, the timetable for appeals and the possibility of the increased penalty were all confirmed Tuesday by Robert Elrod, the public information officer for the Texas Racing Commission.
The commission charges are entirely separate from Chapa's legal woes that stem from the same incident. The 43-year-old rider is facing “unlawful influence on racing” felony criminal charges in Harris County Court while free on $10,000 bail until a Mar. 18 arraignment.
Neither Chapa nor Paul Vick, one of the attorneys who represented Chapa at last Friday's stewards' hearing, returned phone messages before deadline for this story.
The SHRP stewards cited four specific rules violations–“unlawful influences on racing,” “influence of race prohibited,” “inhumane treatment of horse” and “possession of contraband”—in handing down a ban that would make Chapa ineligible for licensure until Jan. 18, 2020.
In addition, Quiet Acceleration was disqualified from the win and declared unplaced. Purse money for the $50,000 Richard King S. is pending redistribution.
Danny Pish, the breeder/owner/trainer of Quiet Acceleration, declined to comment when asked about Chapa's penalty and the “inhumane treatment to a horse” component of the charges.
But with specific regard to his horse's disqualification, Pish said, “No, I don't think it's fair, but their ruling is their ruling.”
When asked if he believed he had a legal avenue to appeal the purse redistribution, Pish said “I'm not certain.”
Pish isn't the only party unclear about whether the penalty to Quiet Acceleration can be separated from Chapa's discipline.
“I have some questions about that and I don't know if we've answered those questions just yet,” said Elrod when asked for a clarification. “As far as the redistribution goes, that won't happen at least until after any appeals process is over. It's something [the commission] is trying to figure out.”
The issue of whether Chapa employed an illegal electrical device stems from a close-up photograph of Quiet Acceleration's stretch run that showed what appears to be a tan, palm-sized device with protruding prongs in Chapa's partially closed left hand.
Chapa has twice previously been suspended in Texas (1993) and New Mexico (2007) for attempting to frighten a racehorse into running faster with a prohibited object.
According to probable cause paperwork filed by Texas Department of Safety peace officer Jeffrey Green, Chapa essentially implicated himself by contacting the track photographer the day after his stakes win, demanding the removal of what appeared to be a fairly standard inside-rail photograph from the SHRP website because it was a “bad” picture.
The jockey's unusual request was then referred to the stewards, the racing commission and law enforcement authorities.
One important distinction in the allegations is that Green's criminal charge alleges that Chapa “unlawfully, intentionally and knowingly” used an electrical device. The commission and stewards were only attempting to prove that Chapa “carried” the device.
The difference will be important in Chapa's criminal case. Section 14.10 of the Texas Racing Act lists the possession of an electrical device as a Class A misdemeanor (one year in jail and/or a fine up to $4,000). Possession with “intent” to influence the outcome of a race is a state jail felony (80 days to two years in jail and a fine up to $10,000). Actual “use of” is a third degree felony (two to 10 years in jail and a fine up to $10,000).
Unless Chapa appeals, the stewards' ruling states that his $25,000 fine must be paid by Thursday. Failure to do so “may result in the suspension of the subject's occupational license(s),” although it is unclear if this would result in an extension of Chapa's existing suspension.
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