Report: Gyarmati Surrenders License, Stalls Revoked

Trainer Leah Gyarmati is no longer licensed in New York and her stalls at Belmont Park were revoked by the New York Racing Association due to two incidents.

She voluntarily surrendered her license March 1.

The news was first reported by the Daily Racing Form. 

DRF noted that the horses Gyarmati had entered at Aqueduct Racetrack were ordered scratched and the horses under her care have been transferred to former Gyarmati assistant Marcelo Arenas.  

Gyarmati told DRF that she “failed a Breathalyzer after she was awakened by NYRA security when found in her truck, which was parked by the Belmont Park training track following training hours.” She said that she had “eaten a sandwich and drank two beers and was napping in her truck.”

As a result, Gyarmati was ordered by state officials to meet with a substance-abuse counselor by a specific date. She said she was unable to do so by that date but had since met with a counselor.

The second incident cited by the report alleges Gyarmati lacked attention for an injured horse under her care.

Gyarmati acknowledged one of her horses did “come off the Belmont training track lame one morning but was brought back to the barn by the exercise rider and a stable employee.” She said she remained at the track watching her other trainees and upon returning to the barn the horse was being examined by a veterinarian.

But NYRA disagrees with Gyarmati’s version of events. It claims she was not present the day the horse came off the track and that NYRA officials “had to request radiographs of the horse be taken,” according to the report. In an email to DRF, NYRA said that Gyarmati “was there the following morning when the vet was at the barn for a follow-up examination.”

She said that the horse had surgery to have one screw inserted to repair a fractured cannon bone and is now recovering on a farm.

“I’ve never been neglectful of my horses,” Gyarmati told DRF. “Never.”

Gyarmati set out on her own as a trainer in 1999. Since then, she’s compiled a 317-391-464 mark from 3,377 starts with $18,627,080 in earnings. Her top earner is Sweet Reason  who won a trio of grade 1 stakes—the 2013 Spinaway Stakes (G1), 2014 Acorn Stakes (G1), and 2014 Test Stakes (G1). She also ran fourth in the 2013 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) and eighth in the 2014 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1). By Street Sense  , Sweet Reason retired with $1,437,700 in earnings.