CHRB Scandal - The Plot Thickens

The Blood-Horse is reporting the associate steward that claimed she informed stewards of a medication violation and was ignored has now made the statements under penalty of perjury. She has also offered more details not previously disclosed.

Specifically, she stated not only that she told the director of Del Mar security about the incident, but also he said he forwarded the information to 1) the stewards, 2) CHRB investigators, and 3) CHRB executive director Ingrid Fermin.

The article does not indicate if the director of security has been deposed or made statements under oath or otherwise.

In Ms. Fermin's most recent statements (she did not comment for the article) she has declared neither she nor the stewards had any information about the medication violation until after the race. Ms. Fermin's statements were not made under penalty of perjury.

The Blood-Horse article also addresses a critical point of owners' rights, as I have noted in these pages. Specifically, that Ms. Fermin's denial of owners' protest because the protests did not come within 72 hours of the ruling is unfair. An attorney representing the owner of the second place finisher makes the point "the (official) ruling was so vague that it would have been impossible for an aggrieved party to have requisite notice." [Blood-Horse]