Santa Anita stewards fine Gus Headley $1,500
ARCADIA, Calif.- Trainer Gus Headley was fined $1,500 on Jan. 29 for removing a horse from another trainer’s stable and administering medication to the horse, according to a ruling issued by Santa Anita stewards Grant Baker, Scott Chaney, and Kim Sawyer.
The incident occurred in April 2016, and involved a horse trained by Gus Headley’s sister, Karen. According to track stewards, Surfing the Menu was entered in a $12,500 claimer by Karen Headley, but was the subject of a potential purchase by a client of Gus Headley’s.
Gus Headley removed Surfing the Menu from his sister’s stable and took the horse to the racetrack for exercise, according to steward Kim Sawyer. At the time, there was confusion about whether the transaction had been completed, according to testimony at a hearing before the stewards. The mare was administered the tranquilizer acepromazine, which resulted in a late scratch from a race at Santa Anita on April 7, 2016, Sawyer said.
Gus Headley, 40, was cited for rules regarding removing a horse from another’s trainer’s barn and medicating another trainer’s horse.
Surfing the Menu was eventually transferred to Gus Headley and changed ownership.
Surfing the Menu made her first two starts for owner Aase Headley, Gus and Karen’s mother, and Bud and Judy Johnston. Karen Headley trained Surfing the Menu for her first two starts.
Surfing the Menu has made her three most recent starts for owners Kurt Rexius and Sayjay Racing and Gus Headley. The 6-year-old mare has not raced since finishing fifth in an optional claimer at Del Mar last August.