Jorge Navarro

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,...

Last week's headlines had little to do with on-track action. This coming week though, we awaken from the sport's annual post-Breeders' Cup snooze with an eye toward decent Thanksgiving weekend racing and on-the-horizon stakes that could add a touch of intrigue to the tail end of the 2020 season. But before you feast upon the holiday fare, chew on these side dishes that anchored the last seven days of the news cycle (plus a few other tidbits that didn't land on the front pages): Last Tuesday we learned via federal...

Business is booming at Spendthrift Farm. The once-defunct stallion station has enjoyed a remarkable resurgence in the past decade, thanks in large part to a superstar stallion, a deep-pocketed owner and the steady hand of an experienced general manager. Ned Toffey has seen it all since B. Wayne Hughes purchased Spendthrift in 2004, and he joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland Wednesday. Calling in via Zoom as the Green Group Guest of the Week, Toffey talked about the explosive growth of the farm, what makes Into Mischief special,...

The federal prosecutor leading the case against an alleged network of racehorse dopers underscored several times during a Nov. 17 court hearing that the government might not yet be done bringing new charges that could involve either existing or fresh defendants as it continues to investigate a purported years-long conspiracy to manufacture, mislabel, rebrand, distribute and administer performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) to Thoroughbreds and Standardbreds across America and in international races. "There may well be other crimes as to the particular defendants in this case," United States Attorney Andrew Adams said...

Beyond the relatively obscure and exotic performance-enhancing drugs allegedly administered to the Thoroughbreds of federally indicted trainers who were charged in March in a years-long doping racket, subsequent testing on the New York contingent of those horses revealed 77% of them had clenbuterol in their systems. And because medical records associated with those Thoroughbreds didn't indicate that drug was administered for its intended purpose (to treat a medically legitimate airway disease), New York State Gaming Commission equine medical director Scott Palmer, VMD, said that the study he conducted on that...

In advance of next Tuesday's first status conference hearing in nearly five months in the federal racehorse doping case against the barred trainers Jason Servis, Jorge Navarro, plus 22 other racing industry defendants, both the prosecution and the defense filed letters to the judge Nov. 10 that give clues as to how each party intends to deal with the evidence in the case and the eventual trials that will ensue. The defense attorneys for Jason Servis filed first, informing the United States District Court (Southern District of New York) that,...

Jason Servis and two veterinarians involved in the scheme to allegedly drug race horses could be spending considerable time in prison after the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York released a superseding indictment Friday that includes the charge of Mail and Wire Fraud Conspiracy. The maximum sentence under federal guidelines for the charge is 20 years. Five individuals named in the original indictment were not included in the superseding indictment, including former Servis assistant Henry Argueta. That could lead to speculation that the five are cooperating...

As the Breeders' Cup draws nearer, legendary author, columnist, figuremaker and handicapper Andy Beyer joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland this week. Calling in via Zoom as the Green Group Guest of the Week, Beyer discussed the future of playing the horses, what his action looks like these days and the evolution of speed figures over the years. Asked about his early Breeders' Cup opinions, Beyer understandably said he's against the strong on hype, weak on numbers Princess Noor (Not This Time), who figures to be among the...

When 27 individuals were indicted in March by federal authorities for their alleged involvement in a wide-spread doping scheme the story was about more than Jason Servis or Jorge Navarro or the cocktails of performance-enhancing drugs they were charged with using on their horses. It was about a system that was so hopelessly broken and incapable of effectively policing the sport that it took the federal government to come in and do what racing had continually failed to do--take meaningful steps to clean up the game. There had to be...

The banned trainer Jorge Navarro, one of the most prominent targets among 27 individuals facing federal charges in an alleged "widespread, corrupt scheme" to dope racehorses, has been granted court permission to leave the Southern District of New York jurisdiction and move his family to Ocala, Florida. But the endorsement signed Thursday by United States Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil that modified Navarro's bail conditions made it clear that the alleged doper "shall have no contact whatsoever with racehorses." Ocala, the heart of Florida's horse country, is part of the Middle...

When Note to Selfie (Big Drama) showed up in the seventh race last Wednesday at Gulfstream, many handicappers surely dismissed the $8,000 claimer. In her most recent start, she finished a non-threatening sixth at the same $8,000 claiming level Feb. 16, and that was for trainer Jorge Navarro. Since that race, Navarro was indicted for allegedly using performance-enhancing drugs on virtually every horse he started. If Note to Selfie couldn't win for Navarro, how would she do for her new trainer, Elizabeth Dobles? Dobles is competent, but has never produced...

The next chapter in the saga of Jorge Navarro and Jason Servis will begin Thursday at Gulfstream Park when the first of more than 100 horses that had been under the care of the two trainers before they were indicted will start for their new barns. Now trained by Mike Maker, Admiral Lynch (Super Saver) has been entered in Thursday's ninth race. The 4-year-old had been trained by Servis. On Thursday, Todd Pletcher will send out two horses that had previously been trained by Navarro. Three days after Navarro and...