West calls for transparency in Saudi Cup investigation of Maximum Security

Gary West, co-owner of Maximum Security with his wife, has responded to the decision by Saudi Arabian horse racing officials to continue to withhold the winning purse of the inaugural Saudi Cup by urging the country’s authorities to make their investigation into the matter “transparent,” including releasing any test results that would indicate that Maximum Security had been administered an illegal substance.

West, in a two-page response issued to the decision, said that Maximum Security had urine, blood, and hair samples pulled by Saudi racing authorities on three occasions – prior to leaving the United States for Saudi Arabia, on arrival in the country, and after Maximum Security had won the Feb. 29 race.

He said that those samples had been sent to “the best testing labs in the world in Paris and Hong Kong,” and that he has every reason to believe that the tests were negative.

“If any of those tests had been positive, Maximum Security would have been disqualified long ago,” West wrote. The letter was co-signed “Coolmore,” the international racing and breeding operation that bought the breeding rights to Maximum Security last year.

The Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia first decided to withhold purse distributions to all runners in the $20 million race after Maximum Security’s trainer, Jason Servis, was indicted March 8 on charges related to the administration of illegal substances to racehorses. Earlier this week, the JCSA decided to distribute purses to the runners that finished second through 10th but continue to withhold the winner’s purse of $10 million, citing the ongoing investigation in the United States.

Servis and 26 other individuals indicted in the wide-ranging investigation have entered not-guilty pleas. The indictment claims that Servis administered an illegal substance to Maximum Security 10 days prior to a race at Monmouth in the summer of 2019.

In a statement that accompanied the decision earlier this week, the JCSA said that it could not reach a “fair and reasonable decision” about Maximum Security’s eligibility for the winning purse “without the consideration of relevant evidence that has been gathered by the prosecution authorities in the U.S. proceedings.” Lawyers on both sides of the indictment have said that discovery in the case will last until at least November.

The JCSA said in its statement that it would have no further comment on the matter until it was ready to make a decision.

West said that the delay in declaring the race official was threatening to jeopardize the legitimacy of the JCSA as it attempts to become a major player on the international horse racing stage. He said that all major racing jurisdictions disqualify horses under rules established by racing authorities in the event of a negative test, and that Saudi Arabia’s failure to follow those rules in an “investigation cloaked in secrecy is not how to gain the respect of and faith in the international racing community.”

West would appear to have few options for legal recourse considering the difficulty in arguing a case under the laws and regulations of a foreign country. He did not make any reference in his statement to pursuing legal action.

West said that he was told by the JCSA that the investigation of the Saudi Cup result has been turned over to a “private investigator,” and he took issue with the use of a third party to determine whether Maximum Security was eligible for the winning purse.

“Winning horses are always decided on the racetrack and backed up by post-race testing,” West wrote. “If a horse wins a race to the satisfaction of the stewards and passes post-race testing, it is universally accepted that the horse is the winner of the race, with the possible exception of the” JCSA.

Maximum Security, who was famously disqualified from first in the 2019 Kentucky Derby due to interference but was voted the Eclipse Award for champion 3-year-old colt, remains in training, but under the care of Bob Baffert in California. He is being pointed to the Pacific Classic on Aug. 22 after narrowly winning his comeback race in the San Diego Handicap.

West said in the letter that he has requested that Saudi Arabian racing authorities provide him with split samples for testing but that the request has been denied, “something that would never happen in the U.S,” and he called on the racing authorities there to announce the previous test results.

“Transparency serves the integrity of racing and the reputations of the Saudi Cup and Maximum Security, both of which have been badly tarnished by these unheard-of delays and bizarre circumstances,” he wrote. “The entire process has been unfair, and the international racing community deserved to know the outcome months ago.”