Evangeline: Patin brothers remain suspended

Two jockeys in Louisiana will remain suspended indefinitely until the state’s racing commission and local police finish investigating the circumstances surrounding a race run on June 19 at Evangeline Downs, state officials said recently.

The jockeys, Joseph Patin Jr. and Billy Patin, who are brothers with checkered histories in the sport, have been prohibited from riding since July 8, when stewards at Evangeline ordered them off their mounts prior to that night’s card. Racing officials in the state and those connected to the riders have been tight-lipped since then about why the brothers were suspended, but a racing official on Monday confirmed that the initial investigation involves the seventh race on June 19, and that officials are also looking into races ridden by the brothers over the 4th of July holiday weekend.

After individual hearings involving each jockey last week regarding the June 19 race, the Evangeline stewards were expected to issue rulings on the matter this week. However, those rulings may now be delayed while investigators pursue leads in the case that may lead to criminal charges, according to an official close to the investigation who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The riders will remain suspended until the rulings are issued, the official said.

“We are going to dot all of our i’s and cross all of our t’s on this one,” the official said.

The race under investigation, a seven-furlong race on the dirt for claiming horses with a purse of $14,560, drew a seven-horse field but one horse was a veterinary scratch, leaving a field of six. Raspberry Delight, the 7-5 favorite ridden by Diego Saenz, won the race by a half-length over the longest shot on the board, who was clear by 16 ½ lengths from the third-place horse, Powder Road, ridden by Joe Patin. Powder Road was also 7-5, though the second choice.

Billy Patin was aboard Ben’s Juliette, a 14-1 shot who finished fifth, trailing throughout.

The parimutuel wagering pools for the race were not out of the ordinary and were not large enough to guarantee a particularly large score, with $27,442 in the win, place, and show pools; $20,802 in the exacta pool; and $16,943 in the trifecta pool. A 10-horse field in the race prior drew $55,445 in win, place, and show wagers, and $55,894 and $40,351 in the exacta and trifecta pools, respectively.

The $1 exacta, with Raspberry Delight in first and the longest shot on the board, Native Little Lady (17-1), in second, paid $28.70. The $1 trifecta paid $92 after Powder Road, Joe Patin’s mount, narrowly gained third at the wire.

A racing official who has examined betting data for the race on offshore exchange-wagering platforms said this week that no bets on the race stood out as being unusual.

In schemes in which riders attempt to hold horses to guarantee the top three spots in a race, it’s common for bets to be placed with offshore bookmakers, which often cap payouts and frequently refuse to make good on suspicious results. However, the official close to the investigation said that the leads are focusing on parimutuel bets.