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Vitali, NYRA Reach Confidential Settlement Agreement

A source indicated the settlement agreement is a multi-year ban.

Trainer Marcus Vitali

Trainer Marcus Vitali

Coglianese Photos/Lauren King

The New York Racing Association announced July 1 that it had reached a settlement agreement with trainer Marcus Vitali.

Specifics of the disciplinary agreement were not disclosed, but a source indicated the settlement agreement is a multi-year ban. NYRA operates New York's major tracks.

"The New York Racing Association and trainer Marcus J. Vitali have reached a settlement agreement resolving and discontinuing the administrative proceeding brought against Mr. Vitali on Sept. 10, 2021, which sought his exclusion from participating in racing or training activities at Aqueduct Racetrack, Belmont Park, and Saratoga Race Course," Pat McKenna, vice president of communications, said in a short statement. "The agreement requires the terms of the settlement to remain confidential."

Attorney Bradford Beilly, who represents Vitali, could not be immediately reached for comment.

Vitali, who has a lengthy list of violations and suspensions over his training career, ran a horse last July at Saratoga, which sparked criticism of his participation there. NYRA scheduled him to appear before a hearing officer this spring in much the same manner in which NYRA conducted a hearing related to Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, but Vitali's hearing was delayed and ultimately a settlement agreement was reached.

In its statement of charges it previously issued against Vitali, NYRA cited that from 2010 through 2020 Vitali amassed an extensive record of medication violations, lengthy suspensions, improperly using "program" or "paper" trainers during suspensions, and obstructing an investigation into alleged wrongdoing. NYRA also charged that in the past five years, he was denied entry, ejected, and/or had license applications denied by regulators in Florida, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New York, and Delaware; and was sanctioned for violating a racing statute, rule, or regulation relating to prohibited or restricted drugs, medications, or substances seven times in a single year. 

NYRA planned hearings for Vitali and Baffert after a judge ruled last year that the state-affiliated NYRA had not afforded Baffert due process when it first suspended him without a hearing. Baffert, whose multiple infractions were related to therapeutic medications, none in New York, ultimately received a one-year suspension from NYRA.

Vitali's violations resulted in a pair of lengthy regulator-issued suspensions, one of which contributed to him not having a starter from July 21, 2019, until Jan. 4, 2021. During that time he was suspended for 365 days in 2019 by the Delaware Thoroughbred Racing Commission for impeding an investigation.

In 2016, he gave up his trainer's license in Florida while facing penalties for seven medication violations and later accepted a 120-day suspension.

A multiple graded stakes-winning trainer with 917 career victories, Vitali's starters have sharply decreased since his return to racing in early 2021. His horses started 126 times last year, winning 17 races, and he is 12-for-60 in 2022. He has raced this year at Turf Paradise and Presque Isle Downs.

Presque Isle is owned and operated by Churchill Downs Inc., which suspended Baffert last year from competition at its tracks through mid-2023, but CDI has not prevented Vitali from participating at Presque Isle.

No other trainers have been a part of the NYRA's disciplinary hearing procedures since the new rules were implemented in September 2021. NYRA has to this point not conducted hearings under its new procedures involving individuals with ongoing regulatory cases or appeals in New York.

In one prominent regulatory case in New York, trainer Linda Rice has appealed a three-year suspension and $50,000 fine issued by the New York State Gaming Commission. She was sanctioned for obtaining advance knowledge of entries at Aqueduct from racing office employees to the benefit of her horses before cards became final from 2011-15.

Linda Rice
Photo: NYRA
Trainer Linda Rice

"Following the suspension of Linda Rice by the New York State Gaming Commission, the (New York) Supreme Court issued an injunction that remains in place allowing Ms. Rice to continue to compete in New York while the suspension is appealed," McKenna said in an earlier June 30 statement after a BloodHorse inquiry about Rice's status. "For the first time in its history, NYRA intervened in a matter such as this by filling an amicus brief strongly supporting the NYSGC position. 

"NYRA has no practical means to summarily exclude Ms. Rice prior to the resolution of the court case."

In other instances, NYRA has discouraged participation by not granting stall space to certain trainers with recent violations. NYRA denied stall allocations to trainers Wayne Potts, Juan Vazquez, Marvin Richards, John McAllen, Luis Miranda, and Michael Simmonds following the completion of the stall application process for the 2022 spring meet at Aqueduct and 2022 spring/summer meet at Belmont Park.

"NYRA utilizes every resource at its disposal to stop and expose those who attempt to break the rules," McKenna continued in a Thursday statement to BloodHorse while noting that "NYRA will continue to take disciplinary action as necessary."