Parx Trainer Vega Suspended for Two Years, Will Appeal

The Pennsylvania board of stewards June 29 imposed a 730-day suspension on owner and trainer Ricardo Vega, a member of the Parx Hall of Fame, June 29 for possession of illegal substances which included hypodermic needles, loaded syringes, a filled IV bag, and an IV catheter.

The two-year suspension of Vega, who conducts business as Richard Vega Racing Stable, was first reported by the Paulick Report July 6.

During a May 25 meeting of the state racing commission, it was revealed that earlier in the month an unannounced widespread raid of the Parx backside, which included searches of barns, tack rooms, grooms' accommodations, veterinary trailers, and other spaces, uncovered a significant number of banned items. Sixty-six out-of-competition tests reportedly were also conducted at that time. 

Vega was summarily suspended by emergency order of the commission May 27.

Pennsylvania Racing Commission executive director Tom Chuckas said at that May 25 meeting the investigators found, "a significant amount of contraband … dealing with medications, either unlabeled, compounded, or expired. I regret to say that there were contraband that have no business on the backside, like needles and syringes and some other things that we discovered."

In Pennsylvania only licensed veterinarians are authorized to possess syringes, needles, or injectable medications on the backstretch.

The June 29 ruling states that the search of Vega's locked tack room turned up the contraband of 21 loaded syringes, 18 needles, the filled IV bag, and the IV catheter. Which substances were found in the syringes and the bag during the raid were not identified in the ruling.

Vega's attorney, Alan Pincus, has said that the tack room in question was commonly used by other trainers and it was not locked.

Pincus told the Paulick Report he filed an appeal of the June 29 stewards' ruling, which imposes the suspension on Vega from June 29, 2021, to June 28, 2023, with the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania.

Vega last ran a horse May 19.

The Parx Hall of Famer and graded stakes-placed trainer took out his license in 1992 and has started 6,398 horses who have won 1,115 races and earned $19.5 million in purse money. This year, he has saddled 46 horses and has six wins.

The public trainer counts Sal DeBunda, the Pennsylvania Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association president and a member of the Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission, among his clients.