Trainer Juan Silva suspended 180 days by Turf Paradise stewards

Juan Silva, a trainer based in the Southwest for the past eight years, has been suspended 180 days by the stewards at Turf Paradise in Phoenix for “conducting business in a manner detrimental to the best interests of horse racing,” with the ruling being forwarded to the state’s racing commission under a recommendation that his license be revoked.

In the ruling, which was issued Wednesday, the stewards alleged that Silva entered a horse “knowing he was sore and unfit to race.” The ruling involved a race at Turf Paradise on March 10 in which Juror, the horse trained by Silva, was pulled up just after the start.

Juror was 1-20 in the $3,500 maiden-claiming race and was vanned off the track. The 5-year-old gelding was claimed out of the race. In his previous race, on Feb. 1, Juror was eighth in a $30,000 maiden-claiming race at Turf Paradise.

The ruling was forwarded to the Arizona Department of Racing with the recommendation that Silva’s license be revoked. Stewards in Arizona cannot issue suspensions longer than 180 days.

According to the ruling, Silva “perjured himself” during a two-day hearing before the stewards regarding the March 10 race. The ruling also said that stewards heard testimony from both a track veterinarian and the state veterinarian.

Silva had his license revoked in 2008 by the Arizona Department of Racing, according to records, for “being of not good repute or moral character.” He did not return to training until 2014. During Turf Paradise’s 2019-20 racing season, Silva was the track’s leading trainer.

Juror’s rider that day, Fausto Da Silva, was suspended 30 days because of the incident. The ruling on Da Silva claims that the jockey was aware the horse was unsound but did not inform veterinarians about the horse’s condition prior to the race.

The 180-day suspension is the second meted out by stewards at Turf Paradise this year. In February, the stewards suspended trainer Bennie “Chip” Wooley for 180 days after he was alleged to have been discovered with a syringe in the stall of a horse on race day. Wooley, the former trainer of 2009 Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird, appealed the penalty and has received a stay.