Jason Servis

One day ahead of a key status conference that could finally establish the trial schedule in the alleged nationwide racehorse doping conspiracy case, lawyers for the 14 defendants filed a "motion to recuse" letter asking United States District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil to remove herself from overseeing the case because she once bred Thoroughbred racehorses in New York, an industry connection the defendants believe will prevent them from getting a fair and impartial trial. "Our understanding is that Your Honor bred racehorses for a number of years," the May 13...

Prosecutors in the federal case against alleged dopers Jorge Navarro, Jason Servis and 12 other defendants told the judge Friday they had no objection to the granting of yet another extension so defense attorneys can sift through the voluminous amount of evidence against their clients, a move that will likely push back the start of the long-awaited trial until 2022 at the earliest. The May 7 letter from acting United States Attorney Audrey Strauss to U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil was filed fewer than 24 hours after defense attorneys...

Scott Mangini, who, along with Jason Servis,  Jorge Navarro and others was indicted in March 2020 for his involvement in a horse doping scheme, has pled guilty to conspiring to unlawfully distribute adulterated and misbranded drugs with the intent to defraud and mislead, it was announced Friday by Audrey Strauss, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. He faces a maximum sentence of five years. Mangini, 55, became the third person involved with the case to enter a guilty plea. The list includes Mangini's business partner,...

The judge in the federal case against 14 alleged horse dopers on Friday granted a motion by the defense to extend the time frame to file motions to suppress evidence because of the massive amount of documentation that attorneys must sift through, which includes transcripts of potentially incriminating phone recordings, emails and text messages. "Given the volume of discovery that we are still reviewing, I respectfully request that the Phase Two Motions schedule be modified as follows: defense motions due June 28, government response due July 28, and defense replies...

One year to the day that the bombshell indictments against 27 individuals allegedly involved in a scheme to use performance-enhancing drugs on racehorses were announced, Scott Robinson became the first of those involved in the scandal to be sentenced to prison. In a decision handed down Tuesday by Judge J. Paul Oetken in U. S. District Court in Lower Manhattan, Robinson was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison plus an additional three years of supervised release. Robinson is required to surrender himself to authorities on Sept. 7, 2021. Robinson,...

Prosecutors in the racehorse doping conspiracy case that ensnared 29 racetrackers, veterinarians and pharmaceutical brokers one year ago tried to convince a federal judge Friday that recent motions made by some of the defendants to dismiss drug alteration and misbranding charges are "without merit" and represent "an effort to invent a statutory limitation where none exists." The government's memorandum of law filed Mar. 5 in United States District Court (Southern District of New York) addresses a number of alleged legal flaws in the defendants' motions to dismiss, including several that...

He did not win Saturday over in Saudi Arabia, but Charlatan (Speightstown) proved that he is undoubtedly the best dirt horse in America. That's how well he ran in his one-length defeat to Mishriff (Ire) (Make Believe {GB}) in the $20-million race. It was by no means a surprise that Charlatan and Knicks Go (Paynter) got caught up in a speed duel. Both are talented horses with abundant early speed and jockeys Joel Rosario (Knicks Go) and Mike Smith (Charlatan) rode aggressively, perhaps because neither rider wanted to see their...

Interviewed on the world feed coverage of the Saudi Cup, Prince Bandar Bin Khalid Al Faisal, chairman of the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia, said that he expected there to be "movement" on the U.S. case against Jason Servis which had been holding up the payment of last year's Saudi Cup purse. Servis was the trainer of 2020's inaugural winner of the Saudi Cup, Maximum Security (New Year's Day), who has never been awarded prize money for the victory. Two weeks after the race, Servis was one of 27 people...

Jorge Navarro and Seth Fishman, DVM, the federally indicted trainer and veterinarian whose alleged litanies of racehorse doping date to at least 2002, both filed Feb. 5 motions to dismiss the drug alteration and misbranding conspiracy charges levied against them in United States District Court (Southern District of New York). According to federal prosecutors, one of their alleged conspiracies involved Navarro allegedly dosing elite-level sprinter X Y Jet "with 50 injections [and] through the mouth" of a performance-enhancing drug (PED) allegedly manufactured and distributed by Fishman before a big win...

When Hill 'n' Dale Farms announced that it would be standing World of Trouble (Kantharos) at stud, everything appeared straightforward. The horse was among the fastest of his generation and had won Grade I races on the turf and dirt. Considering the modest stud fee of $15,000 and the horse's credentials, Hill 'n' Dale President John Sikura had every reason to believe that the horse would be one of the more popular stallions at his farm. Five months later, it all came crashing down. His trainer Jason Servis was indicted...

It's time to turn the page from what was a horrendous year. Thank goodness. The year 2021 is upon us and, for horse racing, it figures to be an important and eventful 12 months. These are the stories we will be talking about and writing about in 2021: Will Handle Be On The Rise? Perhaps the most positive story to come out of 2020 has been the handle figures. With the pandemic causing a sizeable reduction when it comes to the amount of races that were run, betting figured to...

Founder, president and CEO of West Point Thoroughbreds Terry Finley joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland Wednesday to discuss an array of industry issues and potential solutions. Calling in via Zoom as the Green Group Guest of the Week, Finley provided his insights on how the game can better attract new customers, whether or not racing's drug problem is finally going to be cleaned up, the evolution of the owner partnership and much more. Asked about how his friends who are casual observers of racing view the sport,...