The Nevada Gaming Control Board has recommended a horse trainer be fined $5,000 and face a revocation of his license after his horse tested positive for cocaine for winning a race last summer in Northern Nevada. The Nevada Gaming Commission will consider the recommendation at its meeting on April 24.
The Board took on the case Wednesday at the request of the Board of Stewards. Under state law, the stewards have the authority to fine Alvaro Torres a maximum $1,000 and suspend him for 180 days; it suggested greater punishment was warranted.
Deputy Attorney General John Michela outlined the case to the Board by saying it’s the first referral ever to the Gaming Control Board for additional penalties in a horse-cheating case.
The incident dates back to August 24 when Torres’s horse, Saime Pro, finished first in the second race at the Elk County Fairgrounds and paid $11.80 to win. It was a maiden special-weight 300-yard quarter-horse race. As the winner, the horse was submitted for mandatory drug testing and the test results discovered cocaine, a forbidden substance, in the horse’s system, Michela said.
The winnings for the $7,000 purse were later redistributed and Torres was fined $1,000 and had his license suspended for 180 days. That set up the Board referral for an additional $1,000 and extension of the suspension for one year.
“The state steward referred this matter to you because of its severity,” Michela said.
The Board went beyond what the stewards recommended by adding $4,000 to the $1,000 total to bring it to $5,000, revoking the license, and allowing Torres to reapply only after five years.
Torres, who wasn’t present at the stewards’ hearing, also didn’t appear at the Board meeting to dispute the case.
Board member George Assad pressed for the larger fine and a longer revocation of Torres’s.
“To me, this is outrageous,” Assad said. “We have that race only once a year in Elko (and once a year in Ely). “He could have killed the horse and that’s unacceptable. I have no tolerance for people who abuse animals like that.”
Board member Chandeni Sendall called it “egregious” and hopes the horse is healthy. She said more punishment than what stewards recommended is warranted.
Board Chair Kirk Hendrick said he was troubled by what happened. There are only a couple of horse meets a year and the integrity of gaming, along with the horses and jockeys, must be protected. “Whenever you dope an animal, there’s a high risk to the animal, as well as participants in the race. It concerns me greatly.”
Hendrick said cocaine is illegal and suggested law enforcement look into that. Like his colleagues, he said a $1,000 fine and one-year suspension aren’t enough and didn’t want the state to ever license Torres again.
“My guess is Mr. Torres should stay out of Nevada’s racing industry for the rest of his life,” Hendrick said.
