Steward denies saying evidence against Dutrow was planted

A racing official accused of saying that evidence was planted in a case in which trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. received a 10-year suspension has denied making such statements.

Braulio Baeza Jr., currently the New York State steward, denied an accusation made by his predecessor, Steve Lewandowski, that Baeza – at the time working as the New York Racing Association steward – told him and then Jockey Club steward Ted Hill “on numerous occasions that the evidence against Mr. Dutrow was planted.” That allegation was made by Lewandowski in a letter he sent to the commission on Nov. 24, the contents of which were widely reported last week. Lewandowski retired from his role as state steward last summer.

“I never indicated that any evidence was planted in this case,” Baeza said in a statement released Wednesday by the Gaming Commission. “To say otherwise intentionally misrepresents my conversations.”

The evidence in question was the finding by state investigators of three syringes loaded with the banned substance xylazine in Dutrow’s office desk drawer during a search of his Aqueduct barn on Nov. 3, 2010.

It was the finding of those syringes, along with a positive drug test of the horse Fast Cactus, who competed in a race at Aqueduct on Nov. 26, 2010, as well as a history of other violations that led the commission to suspend Dutrow in October 2011. After unsuccessfully exhausting all his legal remedies, Dutrow began serving his ban on Jan. 17, 2013. He will not be able to apply for reinstatement until Jan. 18, 2023.

Based on what his attorneys described as newly discovered evidence not available at the time of his initial hearing, Dutrow has repeatedly sought to have his case re-opened and penalty modified. In 2018, the commission voted, 4-2, not to reopen the case, saying, in short, that none of the evidence presented to them – including allegations of evidence being planted – was compelling enough to re-open the case. Also, the commission stated that Dutrow failed to demonstrate why this evidence was not available to present during the hearings of this case before penalties were assessed.

Last December, Karen Murphy, the attorney representing Dutrow, again asked the commission to re-open the case.

A commission spokesman, in an e-mail, wrote Wednesday, “the [c]ommission has not yet considered the present application to re-open. There is no timeline regarding when they will consider the motion.”

Lewandowski, in his letter to the commission, said the penalty assigned Dutrow – which included a $50,000 fine – was “a miscarriage of justice” and that he should be given clemency.