Balsamo, Jacobson fined for hidden financial interest

The New York stewards have disqualified Box Office from his first-place finish in the fourth race Dec. 4 at Aqueduct and fined that horse’s owner-trainer Diane Balsamo, as well as trainer David Jacobson, for failure to disclose that Jacobson, who also ran a horse in that race, had a hidden financial interest in Box Office.

Further, the stewards have banned Balsamo from entering any horses at New York Racing Association tracks until she proves she is not sharing her purse earnings with Jacobson. The stewards did not ban Jacobson from entering horses because there is no proof he shares any percentage of his horse’s winnings with Balsamo.

The stewards also voided claims of horses made by Jacobson and Balsamo out of that Dec. 4 race. Both of those horses were trained by Rudy Rodriguez and were returned to him Dec. 5. One of them, Pass the Dice, had finished second to Box Office and now is the declared winner of the Dec. 4 race. Coincidentally, Rodriguez claimed Pass the Dice from Jacobson for $16,000 Nov. 29.

The stewards fined Balsamo and Jacobson $2,500 each, though the fine would be reduced to $1,500 for waiving their right of appeal, according to Steven Lewandowski, the steward representing the New York State Gaming Commission. Jacobson, speaking from Southern California, where he recently sent a 20-horse string, said Saturday he does not plan to appeal. As of Sunday morning, Balsamo had not yet notified the stewards whether she plans to appeal. Balsamo said her stable currently is down to two horses.

With Box Office being disqualified from first and ordered unplaced in the race, Balsamo had to forfeit the $30,000 the horse earned in that race. Hear the Footsteps, whom Jacobson ran as the owner/trainer in that race, finished sixth of seven and forfeited $1,250 in purse money.

According to the stewards’ ruling, Balsamo had “improperly given” Jacobson “a 50 percent share of any purse money won by Box Office.” That violates state Rule 4025.11, which reads, in part, “no licensed trainer shall have any interest, either by ownership of the horse or by lease … in a horse of which he or she is not the trainer and that may be racing at the same race track where the trainers is licensed and currently racing. When such trainer raced a horse against Box Office in such race, your competitors and the wagering public were not informed of this hidden interest.”

Jacobson was fined because he competed in a race “in which [he] had a 50 percent share of any purses but were not the record trainer,” according to the ruling.” His interest in Box Office was hidden from his competitors and the wagering public, according to the ruling.

Lewandowski said the stewards concluded that Balsamo and Jacobson did not “intentionally defraud the betting public.” He said since Balsamo was sharing purse winnings with Jacobson, their horses should run as a coupled betting interest.

Though she trains a few horses on her own, Balsamo said she works for Jacobson as a bookkeeper. Balsamo said she directs money from her horses’ winnings to Jacobson to pay bills for hay and feed and veterinary services.

“He doesn’t own my horses,” said Balsamo. “He doesn’t train my horses. They know we didn’t intentionally do this. Everybody knows I work with him, including the stewards, so I don’t understand this.”

On Oct. 15, Box Office finished second in the third race at Belmont Park. Jacobson had a horse that finished last in that race. Lewandowski said the stewards were not planning to take any action regarding that or any other previous race in which Balsamo and Jacobson ran horses in the same race unless it is brought to their attention by an affected party.

“We’re going forward from that race,” said Lewandowski.

Since the start of 2014, there have been 17 occasions in which Balsamo and Jacobson ran horses in the same race at a NYRA track. Balsamo’s horses won five of those races.