Trainer Miceli suspended 30 days for rules infraction

Trainer Mike Miceli was suspended 30 days and fined $2,500 by the New York Gaming Commission for a rules violation involving the horse Cover Photo, who won a $10,000 claiming race at Aqueduct on March 13.

The penalty stems from racing the horse within 14 days of receiving a joint injection, a violation of rule 4043.2 (i) and falls under the trainer’s responsibility, rule 4043.4. Cover Photo was not disqualified from first in that race nor was the purse redistributed.

Miceli will serve the suspension beginning May 8 and he will be eligible to return to training on June 7. Veteran bloodstock agent Joe Brocklebank, provided he passes his written trainer’s test, will be the trainer of record for any of Miceli’s horses who run during the period of his suspension.

Miceli, who won Thursday’s third race at Belmont Park with No Salt, declined to comment on the suspension, referring inquiries to his attorney Drew Mollica.

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“The trainer’s responsibility rule is very broad-based, we respect it and we’re not appealing this decision,” Mollica said. “Mike Miceli’s record over six decades has been pristine. In the world of sinner’s and saints on the racetrack, Mike Miceli is a saint.”

Miceli, a former jockey, began training horses in 1988. Miceli in 1992 was fined $250 for a second pre-race positive in a 12-month period, according to the N.Y. Gaming Commission website. In 2002, he was fined $1,000 for failing to tend to business in a proper manner. Since then, he twice received minimal fines for employing unlicensed help, but has not had a ruling against him since 2010.