Kentucky regulators to get Asmussen report Thursday

The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission will be presented the findings of an investigation into trainer Steve Asmussen during a closed-door executive session of a commission meeting Thursday, the executive director of the commission said Tuesday.

The commission likely will publicly release a report on the investigation after the commission members discuss the results of the investigation during the executive session, according to John Ward, the commission’s executive director. The commission also will publicly vote on any resolutions relating to the investigation’s findings after conducting the closed-door session, Ward said.

The Kentucky racing commission initiated the investigation last March after the release of a video put together by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals from footage taken by an Asmussen stable worker during a four-month period in 2013. The 9 1/2-minute video was culled from hours of footage obtained by the stable worker, who secretly recorded the footage on behalf of PETA.

PETA claimed that the footage showed mistreatment of horses by workers in Asmussen’s barn. PETA also filed documents, mostly transcripts of recorded conversations, that it claimed showed evidence that jockeys used electrical devices on Asmussen’s horses, and that his barn hired undocumented workers.

“What the commission will see is that this was a very thorough investigation,” said Ward.

Asmussen has consistently denied all the claims lodged by PETA, which filed official complaints with both Kentucky and New York regulators. The footage was shot at Saratoga Race Course in upstate New York and Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky.

A spokesman for the New York State Gaming Commission said the commission’s investigation is “ongoing.”

Just after the video was released, the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame withdrew Asmussen’s name from its 2014 ballot, citing the investigations. Last week, the Hall of Fame said that Asmussen’s name would not be allowed to appear on the 2015 ballot because the investigations had not been completed.