Zulueta Changes Plea to Guilty in Doping Scandal

Trainer Marcos Zulueta Oct. 15 changed his plea from not guilty to guilty on charges involved in a wide-ranging horse-doping case reaching into the highest levels of the sport.

Participating remotely in a hearing conducted by U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil, Zulueta admitted to one charge of drug adulteration and misbranding with intent to commit fraud.

Zulueta faces a maximum sentence of three years in prison and a fine of up to $100,000. He also agreed to the forfeiture of more than $47,000 of illegal gains realized from the doping scheme. Vyskocil set sentencing for Feb. 24.

Zulueta, whose participation was limited almost exclusively to responding, "Yes, your honor" to questions, admitted he administered the drugs without prescriptions to horses under his care at Parx Racing in 2019 and 2020. He did not identify the horses involved or name other trainers involved in the case.

He said he received drugs from New York-based distributor and co-defendant Ross Cohen.

Zulueta also withdrew his support for a motion by other defendants, including trainer Jason Servis, to suppress evidence obtained through wiretaps. Prosecutors said if the case had gone to trial, those recordings would have included conversations between Zulueta and trainer Jorge Navarro, who earlier this year also changed his plea to guilty.

Servis continues to plead not guilty.

According to court documents, Navarro and Zulueta discussed in February 2019 Navarro's need for a particular customized performance-enhancing drug referred to as a "blocker" that would be administered to the Navarro-trained X Y Jet . Zulueta agreed to supply that performance enhancer via overnight shipment.

According to the filings, Navarro and Zulueta then were recorded in April 2019 discussing Navarro's doping of X Y Jet with a drug called "monkey" in the weeks leading to his victory in the Dubai Golden Shaheen Sponsored by Gulf News (G1) at Meydan.

The indictment said that substance, erythropoietin (Epogen or EPO), is a blood-builder that can increase stamina. The document also notes that erythropoietin can increase cardiac exertion and pressure and lead to cardiac issues, including death.

In January 2020, Navarro announced that X Y Jet had died from a heart attack.

During his Aug. 11 hearing in which he pled guilty, Navarro admitted to a scheme that included the administration of various adulterated and misbranded performance-enhancing drugs to X Y Jet and other horses. He faces up to five years in prison and financial penalties.

X Y Jet, who Navarro began training in December 2014, was campaigned by Gelfenstein Farm throughout his 26-race career and Rockingham Ranch took part ownership in 2016. David Bernsen assumed a 10% interest of X Y Jet in early December 2019 as part of a partial restructuring and dispersal of horses he owned in partnership with Rockingham Ranch.

Zulueta, suspended from racing in March 2020 along with other defendants, has trained 455 winners from 1,884 starters for a 24% career win percentage. Operating a stable of mostly claiming and mid-level horses, he ranked among the top 100 trainers in the country in 2015-16 either by wins or earnings. The runners in his stable earned $13.1 million over the trainer's career.

In addition to Parx, where Zulueta had his last runner March 7, 2020, the trainer has started horses at several other tracks in the northeast, including Penn National Race Course, Laurel Park, Delaware Park, and Monmouth Park.