Race horses injected with performance enhancements
East Rutherford, NJ (US)Incident Date: Friday, Mar 31, 2006
County: Bergen
Disposition: Convicted
Defendants/Suspects:
» Ardena J Daily
» Eric S Ledford
» Ryan Daily
» John R Whitmar, DVM - Alleged
» Seldon Ledford
Case Updates: 2 update(s) available
New Jersey State Police have arrested four people, including a leading harness driver at Meadowlands Racetrack, and charged them with offenses ranging from drug possession to fixing races.
The arrests followed an 18-month investigation into suspected illegal performance enhancement of race horses and came after searches in Freehold, East Windsor and Millstone Township, state police said.
Eric Ledford, 35, of Monroe Township, was arrested at the Meadowlands and charged with conspiracy to fix a race. According to the United States Trotting Association's Web site, Ledford is the eighth-leading driver in the country this year with earnings of more than $1.4 million.
Ledford is the son of Seldon Ledford, the country's second-leading trainer this year and owner of Seldon Ledford Stables at Showplace Farms in Millstone Township. Horses trained by the Ledford stable were scratched from the Meadowlands program. "It was obvious to everybody that some of these horses that were newly acquired by his stable were racing a lot better once they changed hands," said Detective Sgt. Brice Cote, the lead investigator for the state police's Horse Race Unit. Seldon Ledford is still a subject of the investigation but has not been charged, police said. There is no published phone listing for Seldon Ledford in New Jersey.
Also arrested were Ryan and Ardena Dailey, both 31, employees of Ledford Stables. They were charged with race-rigging and drug possession. No telephone listing was found for the Daileys and they could not be reached for comment.
Veterinarian John R. Witmer, 68, of Freehold, was also charged with conspiracy to fix a race. A person answering the phone at a listing for Witmer said he was no longer at that number.
According to state police, samples of erythropoietin (EPO) and other performance-enhancing drugs banned by the horse racing industry were found during a search of the Daileys' home in East Windsor. The New Jersey Racing Commission has scheduled a hearing for April 11, 2006 at Freehold Raceway to consider evidence in the case and determine whether sanctions are warranted. Punishment could range from a warning to indefinite suspension, according to Frank Zanzuccki, the commission's executive director.
Case UpdatesProminent harness-racing horseman Eric Ledford of Monroe, his father and two associates pleaded guilty Wednesday in Superior Court to possession of controlled dangerous substances in a case authorities originally had said involved the blood-doping of racehorses.
The attorneys for the Ledfords said they hope resolution of the criminal charges - which they noted do not include administering drugs to horses or fixing races - will allow Eric Ledford to resume his racing career.
The four will be sentenced April 5 by Judge Bette C. Uhrmacher, who is expected to issue one-year probationary terms and fines under terms of the plea agreements.
Ledford, 35, a star driver at Freehold Raceway and the Meadowlands Racetrack, and the others were arrested on race-fixing charges March 31, 2006, by the New Jersey State Police after a raid at a barn at Showplace Farms, Millstone Township, and a sweep of the East Windsor home of Ryan Dailey, 32, and Ardena Dailey, 31, who are married.
Ledford, his father, Seldon, 60, of Crete, Ill., a trainer at the stable named for him, and the Daileys, who are former stable workers, admitted to Uhrmacher to possession, knowledge of possession, or failure to report possession of Equipoise without a prescription. Equipoise is a brand name for a veterinary derivative of testosterone used to treat horses, but is only legal within time frames that would ensure it isn't performance-enhancing.
Howard Taylor, the attorney for Eric Ledford, said, "Eric was not charged with having it or even touching it, only with knowledge of it being present and not reporting the possession."
None of the four are currently eligible to return to the racetracks because of lengthy license suspensions imposed by the state Racing Commission last April, but Taylor said, "We're very close to finalizing a deal which hopefully will have Eric Ledford back racing in the near future."
Racing Commission Executive Director Francesco Zanzuccki said, "The penalties are still in effect, and no stays have been issued. The administrative aspect of the case has not been resolved yet but there is a proposed settlement that hasn't been finalized."
Zanzuccki said a settlement could be ready for the full Racing Commission board to act on at its Feb. 14 meeting at the Meadowlands Racetrack, East Rutherford.
In 2006, licenses of Eric Ledford and Seldon Ledford were suspended 10 1/2 years and each was fined $12,000 by the Racing Commission. Their attorneys have sued to have the penalties overturned.
Ryan and Ardena Dailey were each suspended eight years and fined $10,000 by the commission and have gained employment outside the racing industry.
Veterinarian John R. Witmer of Palm Beach, Fla., formerly of Freehold Township, was arrested with the others in March and charged with conspiracy to rig a race. A spokeswoman for state Attorney General Stuart Rabner said the next court status conference on Witmer's case has not been scheduled yet. | Source: The Home News Tribune - Jan 25, 2007
Update posted on Jan 27, 2007 - 12:32AM |
Eric Ledford is a leading driver at the Meadowlands Racetrack, which is the most popular venue in the country for harness racing. He works for his father, Seldon Ledford, a nationally- ranked trainer of harness racing horses with winnings in excess of $3 million in the 2005 season. Statistics supplied by the United States Trotting Association reveal that average yearly winnings for the stable were approximately $186,000 between 1991 and 2004. Ledford's stable won more than one-half million dollars in purses during the first two months of 2006.
Ryan Dailey and his wife, Ardena J. Daily, both 31, of East Windsor are both employed by Seldon Ledford Stables. Ryan is an assistant trainer and Ardena is stable employee.
Quantities of drugs, including EPO, were taken during the search of the Dailey home. Aranesp, a potent, long-lasting form of Erythropoietin (EPO) along with other schedule II and III narcotics, were seized during the execution of other search warrants. EPO acts as a blood enhancer that stimulates the red blood cells, which carry oxygen to the muscles. Aranesp rarely produces antibodies in the horse's bloodstream, and is therefore undetectable with current post-race antibody tests. All forms of EPO are currently banned in the horseracing industry.
Veterinarian John R. Witmer, 68, of Freehold had his bank accounts and assets, valued at approximately $1,000,000, frozen after his arrest. The value of seized pharmaceutical items is estimated in excess of $150,000.
Statistics uncovered in the investigation show that horses entering the Ledford stables-even those with well-established records-often posted dramatically improved race times within a few days of changing stables. Horses under Ledford usually improved by one to two seconds, which translates to five to ten lengths of a horse for each race. | Source: New Jersey State Police - May 2006
Update posted on May 21, 2006 - 11:09PM |
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