Mychel Sanchez | Sarah Andrews
Via Bill Finley
Almost five months after starting to be suspended for betting on one’s own mount, driver Mychel Sanchez was back in action Wednesday, riding in his second race at Delaware Park. Sanchez finished eighth aboard the XY Lady (Sharp Azteca) in the race for 2-year-old girls’ fillings. He is also listed on mounts in the Thursday, Friday and Saturday cards in Delaware.
The last time Sanchez went on January 19 at Parx. Soon after, the Pennsylvania Racing Commission gave him a 60-day suspension after it was discovered that in a bet he had placed bets on horses that were not his mount. us in the races at Parx and at Laurel. The Maryland Racing Commission also suspended Sanchez for 60 days, with the running days concurrent with the Pennsylvania suspension.
When the suspension ended in March, Sanchez clearly had trouble finding a track that would allow him to ride. At that time, the lawyer Alan Pincus confirmed with TDN that Parx officials would not accept the entry where Sanchez was listed to ride. 1/ST Racing, the company that runs Laurel and Pimlico, announced that Sanchez has been banned indefinitely.
Sanchez’s name first reappeared in the entries when he was listed on horse for the June 10 card in Delaware, but he was substituted on each of those mounts.
Calls and emails made Wednesday to Delaware Racing Commission Executive Director Sarah Crane went unanswered. Pincus did not return the phone call seeking clarification on Sanchez’s condition.
While acknowledging that his client made a bet with himself, Pincus said that Sanchez did so as an outlet to battle depression. He said that Sanchez was, in every case, trying to win, even if he had bet on another horse.
“Obviously he did his best,” Pincus said. “He didn’t fix the races. He won several races where he bet on his horses. The horse was paid $37 in one race, $27 in another. He’s just doing something crazy that only a psychiatrist can explain.”
The TDNpassed a Freedom of Information Act request, obtain a record of Sanchez’s betting activity that has been reviewed by the Pennsylvania Racing Commission. The betting log covers the period from December 23 of last year to January 3, during which time Sanchez placed 104 bets on his TVG account. From those 104 races, there were only six where he made a substantial bet on himself. Whether he entered a race or not, he bet a lot. In one example, he won $2,000, placed and bet on a race at Laurel, betting on his mount, Johnny Sack (Mosler). He lost all $6,000 when Johnny Sack was sixth.
Not a subscriber? Click here to subscribe to PDF or daily alerts.
This story was posted in Top News and tagged Alan Pincus, Delaware Park, Delaware Racing Commission, Mychel Sanchez, Parx, Pennsylvania Racing Commission, Sarah Crane.
