Delaware horsemen suspended for hiding lameness

The connections of a horse that raced at Delaware Park this summer have been issued suspensions for failing to follow the recommendations of a veterinarian and administering anti-inflammatory medications to the horse “to take away lameness” prior to a workout, according to recent rulings issued by the stewards there.

The rulings – which resulted in the suspensions of the horse’s owner, trainer, and assistant trainer – underscore recent efforts in the racing industry to better regulate the administration of anti-inflammatory and pain-killing medications during training. According to the rulings, the horse was administered those medications in the days prior to a scheduled October workout in order to get the horse to perform in a way that would allow him to be removed from the vet’s list.

Racing commissions across the U.S. have been tightening regulations on the administration of the drugs – which are allowed to be used in racehorses provided that the usage adheres to certain guidelines – in order to prevent horsemen from using the drugs to mask lameness or injuries.

According to the three rulings, Food and Wine, a 4-year-old gelding, was placed on the veterinarian’s list after winning a June 2 race at Delaware Park and was subsequently diagnosed with having a “50 percent tear in his tendon” by the horse’s practicing veterinarian, with a recommendation that the horse receive “8 to 12 months off to recover.” He was placed on the vet’s list.

The rulings say that the horse’s owner, trainer, and assistant trainer ignored that advice and returned the horse to training in late August, when the horse was still on the vet’s list and needed a supervised workout in order to be removed from the list. The rulings state that the horse was administered a variety of regulated anti-inflammatory drugs on Aug. 27 and 28, approximately a week prior to a workout scheduled for Oct. 3, and that the stewards determined that “the ordered treatment … [was] to take away any lameness so that Food and Wine could work and be removed from the vets’ list to race.”

The treatments were ordered by the horse’s owner, Jose Luis Rosales, according to the rulings. Rosales was issued a 30-day suspension and a $2,500 fine. The horse’s listed trainer, Linda Manchio, 76, was suspended 30 days and also issued a $2,500 fine, and the horse’s assistant trainer, Belinda Manchio, 58, was suspended 15 days and issued a $1,500 fine.

The rulings state that the connections waived their right to counsel, although Linda Manchio did not attend a hearing conducted on Oct. 15 to consider the complaint. The complaint was lodged by a “licensed veterinarian,” according to the rulings.

Rosales has had an owner’s license since 2019, with five wins from 29 total starts and earnings of $70,915. Linda Manchio has trained off-and-on since 1976, with a total of 2,254 starts and 192 wins. Belinda Manchio trained under her own name for periods running from 1981 to 2015, with 1,070 starts and 126 total wins.

Food and Wine has raced 15 times in his career, with two wins, two seconds, and two thirds, for earnings of $52,670. He was disqualified from the June 2 win and placed last.