Nevada has strengthened its regulatory oversight of the horse-racing industry, imposing increased penalties after two trainers were punished for doping their horses at county-fair races during the summer of 2024.
The new regulations increase the threshold of penalties that can be issue by the Board of Stewards that oversees horse racing. They take effect June 1 ahead of the summer racing season. The Nevada Gaming Commission approved the new regulations on Thursday.
In those 2024 cases, the Nevada Gaming Commission fined Ricardo Castillo $100,000 and banned him from racing for 15 years after four of his winning horses tested positive for methamphetamine at the Elko County Fairgrounds. In the second case against trainer Alvaro Torres, the Commission fined him $5,000 and revoked his license over his horse testing positive for cocaine after winning a race at the Elko County Fairgrounds.
Senior Deputy Attorney General John Michela outlined the changes to the Commission during a 25-minute hearing, saying they clarify and update regulations.
“As I was working through those cases, I noticed many divergent disciplinary paths and issues,” Michela said. “The proposed changes create one clear disciplinary path and address disciplinary issues. They also make it clear the Gaming Control Board chair designee acts with regard to horse race matters and not the Board as a whole. Some examples of that include licensing of individual participants like owners, jockeys, and trainers being present in a restricted area of the track.”
The new regulations allows the state steward to increase the suspension from 180 days to one year, while the fine amount is increased from $1,000 to $5,000. If greater discipline is warranted, the matter is referred to the Board, as it was in the Torres and Castillo cases.
“The referral is no longer to the Board and the Commission,” Michela said. “However, an appeal may be made to the Commission. This cleans up the multiple disciplinary paths where appeals from the stewards went straight to the Board while referrals were required to go before the Board and the Commission.”
Any rescission of the fine or suspension by the stewards would go to the Board chair, rather than the full Board and Commission.
Michela said they consulted with the enforcement staff and the horse-racing industry and found no objections to the changes.
Commission Chair Jennifer Togliatti applauded the effort by Michela and said the changes modernize the regulations and appeal process.
Commissioner Brian Krolicki recounted the abuse of the horses and how the commissioners angrer. “If a bad actor injected an animal with a narcotic, is there anything in here that helps us dissuade that type of activity by the amount of penalty?”
Michela told Krolicki that not only can the Board of Stewards impose greater penalties, but it’s now more explicit that it can be imposed per violation. “As with the Torres and Castillo matters, if a greater penalty is warranted, it can still be referred to the Board and Commission for the imposition of greater penalties,” Michela said.
