Vazquez suspended 90 days, plans to appeal

Trainer Juan Vazquez was suspended 90 days and fined $2,500 on Thursday by the Delaware Park stewards for being the aggressor in an altercation near the winner’s circle following the fourth race at the track last Monday. Vazquez will also have to attend and complete an anger management course approved by the stewards before his license is restored to good standing.

Vazquez reportedly punched jockey Trevor McCarthy after the fourth race Monday and McCarthy fought back. Vazquez left the track after the fight but returned after being contacted by a Delaware Racing Commission official. He was then arrested by Delaware State Police and charged with assault. That charge is still pending.

Vazquez and McCarthy attended a stewards’ hearing Wednesday.

Vazquez’s suspension is scheduled to begin Sunday, but John F. Wayne, executive director of the Delaware Racing Commission, said Vazquez contacted him after the stewards’ ruling was released and said he planned to contact an attorney and appeal.

This is not the first time Vazquez has been involved in a violent exchange. He was suspended for 30 days by the Maryland Racing Commission in February 2013 for being the aggressor in an altercation at the Bowie training center. That suspension was stayed on the grounds that Vazquez not be involved in another violent incident during the 2013 Maryland racing season.