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The Racing Post reports:
Trainer Jason Servis was sentenced to four years in prison on Wednesday for doping horses in his care. Servis was accused of administering adulterated and misbranded performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), including one called SGF-1000, to “virtually all of the racehorses under his control”. Some of the PEDs used, manufactured or distributed were alleged to be undetectable in post-race drug tests.
In December last year, Servis, 66, pleaded guilty in connection with his role in the distribution of adulterated and misbranded PEDs intended for horses he trained, including 2020 Saudi Cup winner Maximum Security. The four-year sentence was the maximum allowed. Invited on Wednesday to address the court, Servis broke down in tears, before later saying: “No words can express how remorseful and sorry I am for the decisions I’ve made and the hurt I’ve caused my wife and others.”
From the Justice Department:
SERVIS obtained hundreds of bottles of the drug “SGF-1000,” which was compounded and manufactured in unregistered facilities and contained growth factors that the defendant believed to be undetectable through regular drug screens.
Virtually all the horses in SERVIS’s barn received that drug, including the thoroughbred racehorse “Maximum Security,” who crossed the finish line first at the 2019 Kentucky Derby.
SGF-1000 was an intravenous drug promoted as, among other things, a vasodilator capable of promoting stamina, endurance, and lower heart rates in horses through the purported action of “growth factors.”
SERVIS approved veterinary bills to racehorse owners that contained concealed charges for SGF-1000, which were falsely billed under the line item “Acupuncture & Chiropractic.”
In September 2019, the New York State Gaming Commission released an advisory stating that SGF-1000 was prohibited under the racing rules and had been prohibited since 2012. SERVIS continued to allow the administration of that drug on the horses he trained up until his arrest in March 2020.
In addition to the prison term, SERVIS, 65, of Jupiter, Florida, was sentenced to one year of supervised release and ordered to pay $311,760 in forfeiture, $163,932 in restitution, and a $30,000 fine.
Maximum Security was disqualified for interference after winning the 2019 Kentucky Derby.
Maximum Security wins the inaugural $20,000,000 Saudi Cup!!!!!
The son of New Year’s Day will no longer be known just for his disqualification in the Kentucky Derby!!! pic.twitter.com/hgyU9AP1rx
— Courtney Snow (@_CourtneySnow_) February 29, 2020
Jason Servis, who trained 2019 3-year-old champion Maximum Security, was sentenced in a Manhattan federal district court to four years in prison on charges related to misbranding and adulterating drugs he used on racehorses.
Robert Gearty has morehttps://t.co/BTA0CXrPus
— Daily Racing Form (@DailyRacingForm) July 26, 2023