Jason Servis

The TDN Writer's Room podcast, presented each week by Keeneland, pulled no punches as the writers covered all aspects of the indictments for horse doping of 27 people announced Monday by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. The dialogue included a combination of passion, anger and bewilderment on a story that has rocked the industry. "The big shock is not the scandal itself. The big shock is not that these guys were drugging horses and cheating," said Joe Bianca who kicked off the News of...

Of course, the podcast conversation this week focuses on the doping scandal sweeping racing, and trainer Tom Morley joins the conversation to talk about the trainers whose lives have been affected by those now accused by the U.S. Attorney's Office of doping their horses. It's one for the ages, on the TDN podcast.

New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal in conjunction with the New Jersey Racing Commission announced that the State has suspended the horse racing licenses of seven New Jersey licensees. The suspensions come two days after the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York unsealed indictments against a total of 27 individuals in an alleged international conspiracy to dope racehorses. Seven individuals received letters from New Jersey Racing Commission Executive Director Judith A. Nason notifying them of their immediate suspensions. The septet includes trainer Jason Servis, Nicholas...

The FBI and the Department of Justice have done what the horse racing industry had failed to do for decades. They caught and are prosecuting high-profile trainers for doping infractions as part of an investigation that has finally torn the lid off of what had been the shadowy and secretive world inhabited by racing's cheaters. The entire industry owes a debt of gratitude to these agencies. The problem is, it's not the FBI's job to clean up horse racing. It has more important matters to deal with. There may be...

The owners of Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute) released a statement Wednesday saying they expect Maximum Security (New Year's Day) to be disqualified from all his races, which would include the $20-million Saudi Cup. If so, Midnight Bisou would be placed first in the race. Bob Donaldson, the owner of Spun to Run (Hard Spun), who was second behind Maximum Security in the GI Cigar Mile H., also weighed in, saying he wants the New York Gaming Association to disqualify Maximum Security from that race. Midnight Bisou, who was beaten three-quarters...

Michael Dubb, a member of the New York Racing Association Board of Trustees and one of the more prominent owners who employed trainer Jason Servis, said he was sickened that he was involved with the now indicted trainer. "I've wanted to be someone who didn't just take from the game, but gave back," he said. "To be involved with something that brings a black eye to the game is, beyond words, sickening to me" Dubb said he had about 25 horses with Servis and said they were being dispersed to...

Trainers Jorge Navarro and Jason Servis, the two biggest names among the 27 people indicted Monday after an investigation into horse doping, are due back in court Mar. 23 for their arraignment. Both were arrested Monday in Miami and released on bail. As part of the bail agreement, the court imposed the requirement that Servis and Navarro not have any contact with racehorses without the presence of the third party owner of the premises where the horse is stabled. The indicted horsemen will be allowed to enter a guilty or...

Following a tweet from Rockingham Ranch owner Gary Hartunian that he was sending the horses he had with Jorge Navarro to trainer Brad Cox, Cox told the TDN that he would not be accepting the horses. "It's not true," Cox said of Hartunians's tweet. "After everything that has been going on the last day and a half, I don't feel comfortable accepting any of the horses that are involved in this situation." Cox's statement came after Hartunian tweeted the following Tuesday morning: "All of my horses with Jorge are being...

Champion Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute) took the lead in this week's NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll with 376 votes. The position was previously held by fellow champion Maximum Security (New Year's Day), who bested his female counterpart in the $20 million Saudi Cup Feb. 29. In the wake of the doping controversy, which involved Maximum Security's trainer Jason Servis, NTRA voers were given the opportunity to adjust their selections if they wanted. Maximum Security still received 241 votes, but dropped to fourth behind GI Pegasus World Cup victor Mucho Gusto (Mucho...

The Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training will continue as scheduled, OBS Director of Sales Tod Wojciechowski told the TDN Tuesday. The decision comes as organizers and administrators for institutions and events around the world grapple with just how seriously to take the Coronavirus outbreak. "We're monitoring the situation, but we are moving forward with the sale," Wojciechowski said. "There have been no restrictions placed on us by a government agency--it's a fluid situation, but right now with the investment that's at stake for our consignors...

Maximum Security (New Year's Day) will be taken away from Jason Servis and turned over to Bob Baffert, owner Gary West said in a statement released early Tuesday. West said that all the horses he has under Servis's care will be moved to new trainers. Servis is among 27 individuals who were indicted Monday by the District Attorney for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan, as part of a wide-ranging investigation into doping. Servis and trainer Jorge Navarro were the two most notable names involved in the probe....

Trainers Jorge Navarro and Jason Servis have both racked up well-above-norm winning ratios of 29% since 2017, and no Thoroughbred horseman in this day and age can sustain such gaudy numbers without inviting allegations of cheating via illegal horse doping. Monday, those suspicions exploded beyond the boundaries of our sport when four unsealed federal indictments implicated 27 individuals in a "widespread, corrupt scheme" dating to at least 2017 that centers on Navarro, Servis, and a vast network of co-conspirators who allegedly manufactured, mislabeled, rebranded, distributed and administered performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs)...