In a recent posting to the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit website, New Jersey-based trainer Douglas Nunn is alleged to have violated Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority rules by racing a horse too quickly after an intra-articular joint injection. The Nunn-trained Smithwick’s Spice raced June 9 at Delaware Park after being injected May 31, violating HISA Rules 3313 and 4222 by starting within 14 days of an injection.
The Frost Giant gelding won the five-furlong turf race by three-quarters of a length, banking $29,250 for his owner/breeder, New Spice Stable.
Nunn’s attorney, Andrew Mollica, believes his client is not being treated fairly—pointing out that HISA temporarily suspended full enforcement of intra-articular joint injection rules June 29 after 15 to 20 trainers were found to have breached the rule concerning timed workouts. Nunn was the first trainer to be found violating the rule concerning a race entry.
The rule initially stated that trainers were prohibited from giving horses intra-articular joint injections within 14 days before post time and seven days before a timed work. Violating these rules could result in a 60-day suspension for the trainer, purse money redistributed, and the horse disqualified from the race.
“Doug Nunn did nothing more or less egregious than the people given a warning,” Mollica said of trainers who were not cited for violations related to injected horses recording workouts.
Mollica noted widespread “confusion” among trainers concerning the introduction of HISA rules. “The expense to litigate this is out of Doug’s reach. He has no choice,” he added.
HIWU did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Unlike Nunn, the trainers who violated the rule by working a horse within seven days post-injection have yet to be released on the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit Public Disclosures website available to the public.
“I applaud HISA for accepting that the penalty is too harsh (for trainers with workout violations), and I appreciate HISA understanding the confusion,” Mollica said. “My problem is, why is their confusion any different from Doug’s confusion? The horse was injected 10 days before the race, 10 or 12 days is still not five or six days like it was in the case of the other trainers who got a pass. As (HISA CEO) Lisa Lazarus pointed out, fairness and equity demanded a review (of the workout rules), and the same goes for Doug Nunn.”
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