Aqueduct: Trainer Schettino fined, suspended

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainer Dominick Schettino was suspended 10 days and fined $2,000 by the stewards for refusing to run his horse Ghostly Vision in a race here Jan. 10, necessitating a scratch.

The suspension was reduced to five days, Feb. 4-8, for Schettino waiving his right of appeal.

Ghostly Vision was the 7-5 morning-line favorite for a $20,000 claiming race here. According to state steward Stephen Lewandowski, Schettino didn’t have a legitimate reason to scratch but would not permit the horse to be treated with Lasix, medication on which he was listed to run.

According to Anthony Bonomo Sr., who owns Ghostly Vision with his wife, Mary Ellen, Schettino mistakenly entered the horse in that claiming race. Ghostly Vision, who was competitive in second-level New York-bred races, had never before been offered for a claiming price.

“It was an honest mistake,” Bonomo said. “We told the truth. The rules are the rules. I feel bad for Dominick. He never had a suspension before. The rules are the rules.”

Bonomo is a New York Racing Association board member and chairman of the board’s safety committee. Bonomo also is the chairman of the New York Task Force on Jockey Health and Safety.

This type of fine and suspension is rare but not unprecedented. In 2000, trainer Al Stall got a similar penalty for not running Bright Valour in an allowance race at Saratoga. Stall scratched from that race to run in the Forego Stakes a week later.