Dubb, caught in 'gut-wrenching' situation, sending his Servis-trained horses to other trainers

Owner Michael Dubb said Tuesday he plans on moving the approximate 25 horses he had with trainer Jason Servis to a host of other trainers, but it remains unclear when those horses - or any horse formerly trained by Servis - will be permitted to run in New York.

Servis was indicted Monday by federal prosecutors and accused of giving illegal drugs to his horses. One of those drugs was SGF-1000, which, according to the federal indictment, “is a customized PED purportedly containing growth factors … which are intended to promote tissue repair and increases a racehorse’s stamina and endurance beyond its natural capability.”

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Last September, a directive sent out by Scott Palmer, equine medical director for the New York State Gaming Commission, bars a horse deemed to have been given a growth hormone from racing for no less than 30 days up to 180 days, depending on the trainer history of equine drug violations.

On Tuesday, the gaming commission suspended the license of Servis.

“Whatever the directive is of the state we’re going to comply with,” Dubb said. “Whatever it is, it is. At this point, it’s not about me - this is bigger than me. It’s about the black eye on the sport and making sure this doesn’t happen again.”

Dubb, who owns approximately 100 horses, many in partnership, said he plans to move the horses he had with Servis to Chad Brown, Brad Cox, Todd Pletcher, Mike Maker, Rob Atras, Christophe Clement, and Ralph Nicks.

Dubb is a prominent owner nationally, campaigning champions Monomoy Girl, British Idiom and Uni, but in particular New York, where he is also member of the board of directors of the New York Racing Association. Dubb helped build the Anna House childcare center on the backstretch of Belmont Park and is building and donating a similar facility at Saratoga. That building, which may be completed by this summer, is unlikely to get permits to open until 2021.

“I have always wanted to be a different kind of owner, not just somebody who takes from the game but somebody who gives back to the game whether it’s been advocating for housing, daycare, the chaplaincy, the backstretch in general,” Dubb said. “To be involved in something that gives the sport a black eye when I only want to help, it’s gut-wrenching.”

Among the horses Dubb campaigned with Servis was World of Trouble. Dubb bought the horse privately after he finished second in a Florida Sire Stakes race as a 2-year-old. Under Servis, World of Trouble became a Grade 1 winner on both dirt (Carter) and turf (Jaipur).

World of Trouble was mentioned in the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York indictment as a horse that Servis and his assistant trainer Henry Argueta “discussed the concealment from racing officials of a PED that they intended to administer to World of Trouble” on or about May 8. World of Trouble won the Grade 2 Turf Sprint at Churchill Downs on May 3.

“World of Trouble was a bit of an anomaly, but [Servis] didn’t have my top tier of horses,” Dubb said. “Nonetheless, the World of Trouble situation hurts.”

Dubb said he hopes the events involving Servis, “only highlight the need for federal legislation to create oversight for the sport as well as moving along New York’s effort to create a state-of-the-art testing lab so that everyone involved in the sport from owners to fans and especially the horses are protected.”

Three horses Dubb owns with Servis were entered to run at Aqueduct on Friday. They will be scratched.