No suspicious wagering found on Musical Heart race

The internal investigation conducted by Gulfstream Park into jockey Tony Maragh’s ride in an Aug. 19 race did not turn up any suspicious wagering activity, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation who is not authorized to speak about it.

The investigation has focused primarily on the connections of Musical Heart, who was defeated by a head in the $41,750 allowance race at the South Florida track. Gulfstream Park suspended Tony Maragh for 60 days and fined him $1,000, and it barred trainer Aubrey Maragh, Tony’s uncle, from Gulfstream property pending results of the investigation.

The source said this week that investigators re-audited wagering pools after Gulfstream announced its sanctions. Programs that analyze wagering patterns for all races run in North America had not initially flagged any of the pools for the race, the source said.

Tony Maragh never put Musical Heart to a drive, with the Equibase chart reading in part: “Musical Heart … still unasked in the turn, entered top stretch eight wide and continued to gain without being persevered with.”

Tony Maragh later told the stewards he had been severely weakened after pulling weight in the jockeys’ room sauna, an account corroborated by Aubrey Maragh in a phone interview with Daily Racing Form.

Aubrey Maragh, whose son and assistant Ricko has been training the horses in his place, said Wednesday: “They told me they found nothing with the betting but they haven’t told me when I can come back. Hopefully soon.”

– additional reporting by Matt Hegarty