[AeWingnut]

Originally Posted by pgiaco

Here is a perspective from inside the Sciacca barn. I have had horses with Gary since '99 and he is NOT a cheater. The facts of the case are the "investigator" saw a tube and a jug OUTSIDE the stall of a horse he could not identify. He managed to read the minds of Paul Barone and Oscar Deleon (barn foreman) and divine that they milkshaked Storm River Kelly, not give vitamins and electrolytes to a horse that had run the day before (which is routine with Gary). The contents of the jug were never tested and Storm River Kelly was tested NEGATIVE multiple times for CO2 levels. So when did this "milkshaking" occur? Add in the fact that the State Racing and Wagering Board investigators changed their stories multiple times and the whole thing has a ring of BS to it. Gary and Paul spent almost $50k in legal fees fighting this nonsense but NY State being the political black hole that it is, was willing to drag this out until Gary and Paul were broke. They decided to take their punishment now during this uncertain time with NYRA to miss as little racing as possible.
To further this farce the SRWB, in an effort to save face, offered to forget the suspension if Gary fired Paul which he refused to do.
To my knowledge Gary has zero medication positives, so how is he a "cheater"?
While some have pointed out that Gary had a time when he was a 20% trainer it is important to note that Ray Winnick, Klaravich Stables and Sam Morrell were his major clients at the time. Ray and Sam unfortunately passed away and dispersed their stables and Klaravich left for Rick Violette, so the quality of his stock has dropped dramatically accounting for the drop in win percentage. It's difficult to make chicken salad from chicken sh--.
As a small owner, I can't afford to get stuck getting disqualified from a purse, so if I thought my trainer was a cheat I'd be out of the barn in a day.

Thanks for the post. I never thought for a minute that Steve/ Dee Tee would have anything to do with a cheater.