Pennsylvania Suspends Vazquez Through January 2025

Pennsylvania stewards fined owner/trainer Juan C. Vazquez $5,000 and suspended him for more than 2 1/2 years in a ruling stating he was "grossly negligent, cruel, and abusive" in shipping a horse between racetracks that ultimately was euthanized due to laminitis. The suspension is scheduled to run from July 18 until Jan. 26, 2025.

As of 9:55 a.m. ET July 8, the Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission had not received a request for an appeal and stay of the suspension, according to Tom Chuckas, PHRC director of Thoroughbred horse racing.

The July 7 ruling noted that on Jan. 6 Vazquez shipped Just In Time Racing's Shining Colors  from Belmont Park to Parx Racing, and three days later, the mare was "euthanized due to a severe case of laminitis." Laminitis is the damage and inflammation of the tissue between a horse's hoof and the underlying coffin bone.

During a hearing before stewards June 23, "the evidence presented by veterinarian witnesses and the necropsy report clearly revealed that the horse 'Shining Colors' was suffering from this severe chronic condition and should never have been shipped to Parx Racing by owner/trainer Juan C. Vazquez," the ruling forwarded to BloodHorse from the PHRC stated.

Vazquez, based in the northeast, last ran Shining Colors Oct. 17 at Belmont, where the Paynter   mare finished seventh in an eight-horse field of $30,000 claimers. She earned $56,202 in compiling a 1-3-3 record in 11 starts over her career.

Vazquez did not return phone messages seeking comment.

According to Paulick Report, which initially reported the Pennsylvania action, the suspension is scheduled to last for the remainder of his Pennsylvania license. Some racing officials have more legal latitude in denying a new license application than in revoking a current one, the Paulick Report story noted.

Vazquez has a history of violations in multiple jurisdictions.

This spring, the New York Racing Association denied him and other trainers with checkered histories stall space. NYRA has not sent him before a hearing officer, as the operator did with Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert and planned to do with Marcus Vitali before a settlement agreement with that trainer was reached. Pending matters before the New York Gaming Commission can impact the hearing procedure process, according to NYRA.

In November, the Vazquez-trained Ekhtibaar  was shipped to Belmont Park and was dead upon arrival, "cause of death unknown," according to fatality information posted on the New York Gaming Commission website.

Some Mid-Atlantic tracks previously banned or sanctioned Vazquez, with Delaware Park doing so after he was arrested for assaulting jockey Trevor McCarthy in the winner's circle following a 2014 race and after equine medication violations. He has been a leading trainer in the Mid-Atlantic.

This year, Vazquez has run predominantly at Parx Racing and at NYRA tracks. He is 25-for-209 in 2022.