Monmouth Park horsemen owed $7 million in purses due to drug testing delays

In the six weeks since Monmouth Park opened, the Oceanport track’s purses have totaled nearly $10 million. But as of this weekend some $7 million of that money, a lifeline for horsemen already reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic, has yet to be paid out, the Asbury Park Press has learned.

Long delays in getting results for post-race drug tests has held up the payment of purse money dating back to the opening days of the meet. The New Jersey Racing Commission administers the state's testing program. Purse money is not paid out to a horse's owners until the drug test comes back negative.

As of Sunday, the only purse money that’s been released to owners of horses that were tested is from the opening day card on July 3. The first-place horse, whose owner generally receives 60 percent of the purse, is tested after each race, along with another randomly chosen runner.

“If you got tested, you have to wait and it’s very frustrating because you’ve got bills to pay and help to pay and everything else, and it’s getting a little scary for a lot of people,” said Jeanne Vuyosevich, a trainer and owner, who operates Sunset Meadow Farm in Farmingdale.

Horsemen took a major hit before the first race was even run this summer. The meet was cut from 56 racing days down to just 37 days when the May 2 opening day was moved back two months due to restrictions related to the pandemic.

“People are going crazy about this on the backstretch,” said trainer Gregg Sacco. “A lot of people back here rely on purse money to survive from week-to-week.”

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The New Jersey Racing Commission declined to comment on the testing delays after inquiries by the Asbury Park Press last week. The commission is in charge of overseeing the program and has a contract for testing with Truesdail Laboratories, based in Irvine, California.

“There are a lot of issues on everyone’s plate at Monmouth Park, but right now this is the No. 1 issue on everyone’s plate,” said Dennis Drazin, chairman and CEO of Darby Development LLC., which operates the track. “These horsemen are struggling. People can’t pay their bills. And it’s a trickle-down effect. I've gotten complaints from feed companies saying the horsemen don’t have the money to pay them."

The fiscal impact is being felt in several different ways.

Some 50 horses formerly trained by Jason Servis and Jorge Navarro were unable to run at Monmouth Park until two weeks ago, missing the first month of the meet. The horses were required to pass drug tests before being eligible to run here with Servis and Navarro, currently suspended by the state Racing Commission, among the 27 indicted earlier this year after a lengthy FBI probe into allegation of performance enhancing drugs in horse racing.

There are ramifications for anyone claiming (purchasing) a horse in a race at Monmouth Park. Those who are claiming horses are allowed to void the claim if the horse fails a post-race drug test. But when the results are coming back six weeks later, that horse has likely already run back in one or more races, making the whole process problematic.

“Frankly, at this point we’re evaluating filing lawsuit against Truesdail,” Drazin said. “I personally called and had a conversation with the Racing Commission and I was told that the contract provides that they need to do their preliminary results in three days and their final results in eight days.

"The commission was very upset that Truesdail was not living up to the terms of their contract and they told me they were trying to get direct answers and speaking to the Attorney General’s Office about what action to take. I do think the commission’s executive director (Judith Nason) is taking this very seriously “

The commission has used Truesdail Laboratories since 2013. Prior to that, testing was performed by the New Jersey State Police Forensics Laboratory.   

It's not the first issue with Truesdail in New Jersey. In March, the lab admitted it made a mistake in a positive test for a horse trained by Glenn Thompson last summer at Monmouth Park.

Truesdail's accreditation with the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium was reportedly suspended earlier this year after the lab’s accreditation with the International Organization for Standardization was changed, no longer including accreditation requirements and operating criteria for horse racing labs.

According to the New Jersey Racing Commission’s annual report, in 2018 a total of $1,125,578 was spend on drug testing for horse racing around the state.

Monmouth Park is expected to distribute around $20 million in purse money by the time the meet ends, with the final day now set for Oct. 4. The question is how quickly horsemen, with families to feed and bills to play, will be able to get their hands on the much-needed cash.

Stephen Edelson is a USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey sports columnist who has been covering athletics in the state and at the Jersey Shore for nearly 35 years. Contact him at: @SteveEdelsonAPP; sedelson@gannettnj.com.