Proposed Order Would Dismiss Borell Cruelty Charges

A proposed order in a Kentucky court would have 43 counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty charges against former trainer Maria Borell dismissed and a ban on her training horses in Kentucky removed.

The proposed order, posted in an online court docket, shows signature lines for Mercer County Attorney Ted Dean and Borell's attorney, Russell Baldani of Lexington, Ky. The signature lines indicate they "have seen and agree" to entry of the order in Mercer County District Court. The line for Baldani bears his electronic signature, while the line for Dean does not show a signature. Calls to the offices of both Dean and Baldani by BloodHorse were answered by staff, but neither attorney returned the calls after several hours.

According to court records, Borell was charged with 43 counts of animal cruelty in the second degree along with her father Charles Borell in June 2016 after malnourished horses were found on a farm in Mercer County. Deputy state veterinarian Dr. Bradley Keough had traveled to the farm to investigate a report that two missing Bourbon County Thoroughbred horses were being held there when he made the discovery.

Three months later Charles Borell pleaded guilty as charged to nine counts. Each count was a class A misdemeanor punishable by up to 12 months in jail and a fine. He was sentenced to 179 days in jail on each of the counts to run concurrently, or at the same time, with 176 days suspended and the remaining three days credited with time served. Kentucky law provides that multiple class A misdemeanor convictions in the same case cannot carry more than 12 months' total imprisonment.

The other 34 counts against Charles Borell were dismissed. A $4,300 bond was forfeited for restitution purposes, and Borell was placed on probation for two years, the maximum allowed on a misdemeanor conviction in Kentucky, on conditions including he not have in his care any animals in Kentucky.

When the charges arose Maria Borell was out of state, and under Kentucky law she could not be extradited for misdemeanor charges. According to court records she finally turned herself in and posted a $7,500 bond early in 2022. Eventually the case was set to go to trial with three days reserved starting July 12 of this year. July 10 the matter was remanded for a hearing July 27 and removed from the court's jury trial docket. The proposed agreed order of dismissal was made public on the court's online docket July 11.

In addition to dismissing all charges against Borell, the one-paragraph proposed order recites, "Defendant agrees to forfeit the $7,500 bond, and the Mercer District Clerk shall pay that sum to the entity designated by the County Attorney. The $2,500 held in escrow by defendant's attorney shall likewise be paid to the entity designated by the County Attorney." The payee or payees of those sums are not identified in the proposed order.

A civil complaint filed by Mercer County Fiscal Court (the county government) and the Kentucky Department of Agriculture against the Borells in Mercer Circuit Court nine days before Charles Borell's criminal case was resolved alleged Thoroughbred Charities of America spent more than $13,000 to provide temporary care for the horses. The complaint says "Other individuals and entities have expended significant sums in itemized expenses to provide temporary care for the horses...(including) Sallee Horse Transplant (more than $4,800), Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital (amount unknown), Hagyard Equine Medical Institute (amount unknown), Park Equine Hospital (amount unknown), and Patterson Veterinarian Supply (amount unknown)."

The complaint also alleged a substantial absence of care for the horses. "No caretakers were present. Stall buckets and troughs were either completely empty or contained small amounts of dirty water that was contaminated with loose debris, algae, and mosquito larvae. High temperatures made the lack of clean water especially dangerous to the horses’ health," according to the complaint.

The civil case was partially resolved in September 2016 after one horse had to be euthanized, six horses were returned to outside owners, and the remainder were placed by the Kentucky Department of Agriculture with "individuals and entities that are willing to assume permanent responsibility for providing appropriate and humane care for the horses."

The remaining claims in the civil case languished until it was dismissed for lack of prosecution in February 2018.

Borell, who trained Runhappy   to win the 2015 Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) at Keeneland only to be dismissed the following day by owner James McIngvale, has not trained a runner in North America since 2016, according to Equibase. When she made bond in the Mercer County case in 2022, a condition of her release was that she would not be responsible for the care of any horses in Kentucky. A dismissal of charges against Borell would release her from that bond condition.