Glatt will appeal fine, ban
DEL MAR, Calif. - Trainer Mark Glatt was fined $1,500 on Monday and suspended for 15 days, beginning Saturday, for violations of California Horse Racing Board rules related to contraband, medication, and labeling of medications, Del Mar's board of stewards said in a ruling.
The stewards - Ingrid Fermin, David Samuel, and George Slender - declined to elaborate on the ruling, not even the specifics of the charges or the date when they allegedly occurred. "We've been instructed not to say anything, pending an appeal," Slender said.
Alan Klein, an attorney representing Glatt, said Tuesday he was going to file an appeal "in 20 minutes," and said he was going to request a temporary stay, which would have to be granted by Roger Licht, the racing board's chairman.
According to Klein, a trailer that Glatt owns was found to have syringes and Acepromazine, a tranquilizer, while parked in the parking lot on July 2 at Santa Anita, outside the secured stable grounds. Klein said that Glatt testified he had the medication and contraband because he was shipping horses. Acepromazine is often used to treat horses when they are being transported.
Klein said Glatt should not have been cited because the board applied rules limited to being inside the secured stable area, and at a live race meet, "neither of which are applicable," he said. Hollywood Park was racing in early July.
"We don't dispute that he had syringes in his trailer, and Ace," Klein said, "but there's no evidence he had any of it inside the secure stable gate."
The aspect of the stewards' ruling citing labeling of medication, according to Klein, relates to ulcer and anti-inflammatory medication found in Glatt's barn. The medication, said Klein, was labeled as to content, but did not specify on which horse it was to be used. Klein said the racing board used a rule that "applies to veterinarians and vendors, neither of which Mark is.
"His veterinarian, Ted Simpson, testified in Saturday's hearing that he ran out of labels," Klein said.