Juan Vazquez suspension appeal denied by Pennsylvania Commission

The Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission on Wednesday denied an appeal by the trainer Juan Vazquez of a suspension that will run through January 2025.

Vazquez, a trainer based in Pennsylvania who put up gaudy win percentages early in his career, was suspended this summer by the commission after being accused of shipping a mare in January from Belmont Park in New York to Parx Racing outside of Philadelphia despite the mare having an acute case of laminitis. The mare, Shining Colors, was euthanized three days after the journey.

In its initial ruling, the PHRC had called the incident “grossly negligent, cruel, and abusive” based on testimony from eyewitnesses and veterinarians.

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Shining Colors was the second mare trained by Vazquez to die in a shipping incident in a 60-day span. Another mare, Ekhitibaar, was pronounced dead on arrival after being shipped from Parx to Belmont in November 2021. A necropsy was inconclusive.

Vazquez started training full-time in 2008. In 2010, he won with 29 percent of his starters while earning $1.48 million in purses. In the next seven years of training, he posted win rates in the high teens or low 20s.

Throughout his career, Vazquez has racked up more than 100 violations of racing rules.

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