New York Stewards Fine Owners for Claiming Violation

New York stewards fined two co-owners $2,000 each for violation of a claiming rule, according to New York State Gaming Commission rulings dated Dec. 17.

On Aug. 4, Mach One  was claimed for $20,000 by trainer Amira Chichakly for owner Frank Catapano from a maiden claiming event at Saratoga Race Course in which he finished second. Mach One moved to Wayne Potts' stable Aug. 7. He raced next Sept. 12 in a maiden special weight at Monmouth Park with Potts as trainer for owners Catapano and Nicholas Primpas, finishing second. 

NYSGC rule #4038.4 states that a claimed horse "shall not be sold or transferred to anyone wholly or in part, except in a claiming race, for a period of 30 days from the date of the claim."

The commission posted separate rulings for Catapano and Primpas, fining them $2,000 each.

In a Sept. 19 ruling, Potts was fined $2,000 and suspended 20 days (stewards suspended Potts 30 days but 10 days were stayed). Chichakly told the Daily Racing Form in September that she was unaware she claimed a horse that would go to another trainer and appealed a $2,000 fine.

BLOODHORSE: Trainers Potts, Chichakly Cited for Claiming Violations

Mach One has made two additional starts at Belmont Park with Bonnie Lucas as trainer, finishing sixth in a Sept. 30 maiden special weight and winning an Oct. 16 maiden claimer in which a $30,000 claim on him was voided.