Trainer Gets Court Order to Block Suspension, Fine

A New Mexico district court judge put the brakes on a 15-day suspension and $5,000 fine given to trainer Justin Evans when two horses he entered Aug. 14 in a race at the Downs at Albuquerque raced with the wrong saddle cloth numbers.

Evans filed for a temporary restraining order against the New Mexico Racing Commission after executive director Ismael "Izzy" Trejo denied the trainer's request for a stay on his penalties. Evans has appealed the stewards' ruling.

New Mexico 2nd Judicial District Court Judge Joshua Allison ruled after a Sept. 2 hearing he was "satisfied that Petitioner may suffer irreparable harm if he is not allowed to race." While Allison noted that financial losses, particularly speculative ones like earning purse money in a horse race, are generally insufficient to support this type of order, Evans also stands to lose opportunities that cannot be replaced.

"Missed races with specific horses cannot be replaced regardless of what the outcome might be," Allison stated in his ruling. The judge added that he did not see any threat of injury to the racing commission by approving the restraining order and that the commission can still proceed with ruling on the appeal.

The judge also stated that this ruling in no way reflects on the merits of Evans' appeal, which he noted "does not weigh heavily in favor of one party or another."

Evans has already served eight days of his suspension, according to court documents.

The horse mix-up leading to Evans' suspension and fine occurred in a maiden special weight for 3-year-olds and up on opening day at the Downs at Albuquerque in which he entered Extremely Wicked  and Square Root . Extremely Wicked is a 4-year-old gelding by Wicked Strong   that the trainer co-owns with Michael Cimino, and Square Root is a 4-year-old gelded son of Square Eddie  that Evans co-owns with Stan Munro.

The chart of this race shows that No. 9 Extremely Wicked won by 6 1/4 lengths and No. 6 Square Root finished third. When these horses got back to the test barn, however, it was discovered that the horse wearing No. 9 was actually Square Root.

The horse identifier in the paddock had scanned the microchips of the two bay horses when they were being saddled and mixed up their identities, according to Chief Steward Dave Hooper, who said the identifier had been fined $1,000 as well. He noted this was the first time the identifier had misidentified a horse.

Hooper told BloodHorse that while both horses are bay, they do have distinguishing markings—Square Root has small white markings on his legs just above the hoof and Extremely Wicked has a small white marking on his forehead. Evans was in the paddock at the time the horses were saddled and he said the trainer bears the ultimate responsibility. In hindsight, Hooper said, the identifier should have looked at the horse back in the barns prior to race day.

While Evans is appealing the ruling because he feels the penalties are excessive, Hooper said the trainer has a history of 144 rule violations, of which a half-dozen he said he'd characterize as "serious violations."

"While we did not put it in the ruling, his history was an aggravating factor that did not work in his favor," Hooper said.

BloodHorse tracked down the records for 66 violations Evans was cited for between late September 2007 and March 1 of this year. Evans started his first horse as a trainer in 1999.

Of these 66 violations, 49 carried fines of $200 or less for violations that included bringing the wrong horse to the paddock and mandating a late scratch, failure to declare an equipment change, entering an ineligible horse in a race, or failing to have a horse treated for Lasix. The trainer has eight violations with fines ranging from $500 to $2,500, including four with fines greater than $1,000. Two of his largest fines are associated with dexamethasone positives in 2017, one Sept. 3 at Ruidoso Downs and one Nov. 26 at Sunland Park. Evans was fined $1,500 and suspended 15 days for the dexamethasone positive at Ruidoso and fined $2,500 and suspended from March 16 through April 14, 2018, for the violation at Sunland Park.

When contacted about the judge's order, Evans said he didn't want to say too much because his case is on appeal.

"I will say, if the identifier had caught it, we could have switched the horses right then," Evans said. "If I had simply brought the wrong horse to the paddock, it would have been a $200 fine for a late scratch. Now this is a $5,000 fine and 15 days, not to mention the owners I've lost."