The Jorge Navarro case made headlines again last week when attorneys representing the federal government submitted a sentencing letter regarding the disgraced coach to Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil. They recommended that Navarro receive the maximum sentence allowed for doping racehorses in his care, 5 years. He will be sentenced on Friday.
The government lawyers did their job and they did it well, and they don’t want to show mercy to Juice Man. Read the sentencing letter and the first conclusion you’ll come to is probably the same one I’ve come to – that five years isn’t nearly enough.
We already know what Navarro is doing. He was injecting every chemical poison he could find into each of his horses, all in an effort to win more races and make more money, never having cared about the welfare of the animals.
“The case of Jorge Navarro reflects the failure, greed and corruption at almost every level of the professional equestrian world. For the sake of money and fame, corrupt trainers have increasingly gone to extremes to kill the horses in their care,” the record begins.
It continued: “Navarro’s fierce pursuit of PEDs – and his eagerness to use racehorses under his care to test the efficacy of new PEDs – demonstrates an exceptional disregard for the well-being of the animals. horses under his care and control.”
What we didn’t know until the latest court filings were released is how brazen and unrepentant he is. That may not seem possible, but Navarro’s core is even more rotten than we thought.
The government asserts that Navarro “considers his prolific doping campaign a badge of honor.” How else would you explain why he has a pair of shoes emblazoned on the front with the words “#JUICE MAN.”? Or in 2018, he sent a message to trainer Marcos Zulueta that included pictures of monkeys, rockets, syringes, horses and pills, seemingly alluding to a drug he was taking use the name “monkey”. The paintings are continued with the word “Te encanta”, which is Spanish for “You like it”. Or did he receive a GIF from an unnamed associate showing a syringe filled with money?
“The intensity of Navarro’s doping is consistent with his apparent glee in this illegal activity,” the government wrote.
The government also wants Navarro to pay $25.8 million in restitution to the people he defrauded. It is not clear how they came up with that number or who exactly is entitled to the money. It’s very unlikely that Navarro has $25.8 million or anywhere close to that number. So this punitive part of him may not go anywhere, but it’s good to see that the government will also go after whatever money he has.
Then there was a prediction from Navarro’s attorney in a filing that the coach would most likely be deported to his native Panama after serving his sentence. Good puzzle.
Earlier this month, in a pre-sentence report of their own, Navarro’s defense team asked the judge to limit his sentence to three and a half years. In doing so, they paint a very different picture of their customers. They say he loves his horses and his insatiable desire to win has swayed his judgment.
Their profile includes statements from several verified individuals for his character. One from veterinarian Joel Lugo, who recalls Navarro’s reaction to the death of sprinter star XY Jet (Kantharos). The horse died in January 2020 of what Navarro said was a heart attack.
“I remember the day XY Jet died,” Lugo wrote. “Jorge called me and cried to tell me the news directly. I know Navarro was devastated because he really loved XY Jet.”
Jockey Jose Ferrer wrote of Navarro that he “admired his hard work ethic and love for both sports and animals.”
Such love is laughable. Anyone could do with these animals what Navarro didn’t love their horses. Navarro abused his horses.
“This was one of the factors that led to the lie about Navarro’s submission and many of his letters of support cited and added to Navarro’s sentencing submission, in which third parties three claim that Navarro made the decision for the health and well-being of his horses,” the government wrote. “That concept simply doesn’t fit the hundreds of conversations in which Navarro searches for PEDs to use on his horses, discusses the management of new PEDs on his horses, motivates the horses. Horses may be in poor shape for competition and show indifference to the physical ramifications of managing PED to equine.”
One can only hope that Vyskocil agrees. Put him in prison for five years. Banish him. Take his money. It’s time for Juice Man to get what he deserves.
And what about the owner of the Navarro?
The government’s sentencing letter includes a summary of a conversation with the owner of a horse named Nanoosh (Paytner). The unnamed owner and Navarro discussed the horse’s recent bad form and the owner asked him if he would “give them [Nanoosh] all that damn? ” The owner also asked Navarro, “Is this horse staked? Is he taking damn pills or are we just fucking-,” Navarro replied, “Everything… he got everything. .”
The same exchange was mentioned 21 months ago when Navarro was initially indicted. According to Equibase, the horse is owned by a partnership of Rockingham Ranch, Zayat Stables LL and David A. Bernsen LLC. Rockingham Ranch and Bernsen remain active owners. Zayat, due to issues unrelated to Nanoosh, is not active in this sport.
No one in the sport wants to delve into this? It’s not hard to find out who the owner discussed with Navarro. Once the name is revealed, the person will be banned from the sport immediately and permanently.
The Remsen Fiasco
Protests that seek to get over management decisions don’t usually get very far, but this year’s GII Remsen S. case is one where the New York Game Commission should completely overturn things. self-termination. The Aqueduct managers got this wrong.
Race to Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo) and Zandon (Start up), the two parted as they made their way towards the wire. Mo Donegal board race winner, cyclist Irad Ortiz, Jr appeared to threaten his opponent. The two collided close, where, according to Equibase’s chart, Ortiz threw “repeatedly exaggerated crosses with left-hand shots near the runner-up’s face…” It was so bad that Ortiz appeared to attack Zandon with elbow.
Mo Donegal wins with his nose.
Zandon’s owner, Jeff Drown, filed an objection last week and asserts that his horse would have won without Ortiz’s antics. He’s not wrong.
It wasn’t just the managers who blew the decision away. That regarding Ortiz is not a surprise. The day before, riding a horse named Gran Casique (Algorithm), he had dropped another rider as he crossed several paths along the way in an attempt to maintain a position on the tracks. For that trip, he was given a 30-day suspension for careless driving.
For months, Ortiz’s critics criticized him for his overly aggressive riding style and in particular, his penchant for herding other horses and riders. Until the Gran Casique race, however, the NYRA managers looked more or less the other way. That seemed to frustrate Ortiz.
Yes, the managers did the right thing when they gave Ortiz a 30-day suspension. But they were back to form in Remsen. They did not take down Mo Donegal and they did not suspend or fine Ortiz for his actions. Again, when it comes to Ortiz, the message was sent by mistake.
