Horse Racing: Trainer Darrel Delahoussaye arrested following doping allegations
In a perfect world no one would cheat, maybe. Though in all likelihood even in a perfect world there would be some who would cheat the system and their peers, just to get ahead. This world, however, is far from a perfect utopia and the horse racing world is even farther removed, the proper analogy for Horse Racing, if anything, would be Tartarus.
In this chaotic realm there are horses, heroes and villains. Darrel Delahoussaye would have to written down as the villain. The industry certainly didn’t need any more controversy or unsportsmanlike conduct. Darrel has been arrested by Pennsylvania state police on charges that include several misdemeanours, and a handful of felonies. He is accused of theft by deception, administering drugs to racehorses in contravention to established law, rigging publicly exhibited contests and impeding a criminal investigation by tampering with evidence. Welcome to Tartarus.
Apparently Darrel had been giving racehorses performance enhancing drugs to improve his odds. The goal wasn’t always to enhance performance. An investigation by the Dauphin county grand jury found that among the substances Darrel gave to the horses under his care was snake venom and an anti inflammatory drug before sending the horses out to race. It didn’t stop there though. His mistreatments included reselling injured horses destined for retirement. At least one of those poor animals was forced to race again even in its condition.
The tampering with evidence charges stems from orders he gave two of his subordinates at Penn National instructing them to remove evidence from barns. Rigging a race is also tantamount to theft in the eyes of the law at least. Darrel is thus being charged with theft for robbing or attempting to rob people who bet on races in which Darrel ran doped out horses. Preventing a public event from being conducted as per the rules constitutes just a misdemeanour.
One must really question the wisdom of Pennsylvanian authorities. Darrel was no boy scout, he had been through his share of legal wrangles. According to reports released by the Association of Racing Commissioners, Darrel has faced suspensions or bans in at least 3 states. The long list of punitive actions taken against him includes a year long suspension in Ohio over animal cruelty, no surprise there. He was given a one year ban in Michigan due to doping charges and various other fines and suspensions for shorter durations over the years and across the states. Also the state of Louisiana took away Darrel’s license when it was learned that the trainer was serving a felony conviction sentence.
With all that on the plate, the reaction from the authorities should have felt like ‘deja vu’ for the jockey instead of shocking and horrific. But is Darrel the only trainer to have employed less than dignified tactics to make more money? The odds are against that.
The authorities are still going to make the most of Darrel’s case though. They are likely to tout the investigation as a victory for transparency and fairness in Pennsylvania. Punitive actions that could be taken against Darrel would be on display as testimony to Pennsylvania’s dedication to a fair game. Darrel is going to be made an example of.
One of Darrel’s acquaintances and fellow horse owner Sandor Horvath had the same reservations. He said that the charges laid against Darrel may very well be credible but he also added that Darrel was not the only trainer to have resorted to doping. The problem is far wider than it appears. Racing authorities in Pennsylvania have very little to show for their anti-doping efforts, excluding Darrel.
In an unofficial investigation by the department of agriculture conducted before the year 2009, it was found that 25, including those from Penn National, out of almost 2000 horses tested positive for steroid use.
Spokesman for Penn National said that they were not privy to any additional information about Darrel’s case than what was made public and they would be cooperating fully with authorities. Darrel’s career in racing almost definitely has come to an end and he now faces the possibility of significant jail time.
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