A father and son have admitted to using snake venom in order to fix two races at the Saratoga harness track in late 2006.
William Barrack, 68, and Keith Barrack, 43, were co-owners of a horse called Disco Force A, and William Barrack was a trainer at the track.
The two were among five men indicted in March on charges of conspiracy in the alleged doping of horses at the Saratoga Gaming and Raceway. Of the five people charged, the Barracks were the only two people who faced felonies.
They were each charged with two counts of first-degree scheming to defraud, a felony, as well as two counts of conspiracy, two counts of interference with a domestic animal and two counts of tampering with a sports contest, all misdemeanors.
They pleaded guilty only to a felony charge of interference with a domestic animal.
The men will likely be sentenced to five years’ probation in August, according to Judge Jerry Scarano. They are free on a $10,000 bond posted after the March arraignment.
The three other men indicted in March — Marc Mosher, 48, of Montgomery; Robert Moscone, 60, of Wappingers Falls; and Carl Forrester, 31, of Lewes, Del. — were each charged with two misdemeanor counts of conspiracy. They have yet to appear in court.
Saratoga County District Attorney James Murphy III said his office worked with the state police and the New York State Racing and Wagering Board after receiving information that individuals were suspected of injecting drugs and snake venom into harness track horses.
Murphy said the effect of snake venom is to numb the horse to pain.
A horse can run through a situation that can be very dangerous and cause quite a bit of damage, Murphy said. `It’s like a person who takes a lot of painkillers, they can hurt themselves without knowing it.`
The Barracks are accused of giving snake venom injections as a painkiller to a horse called Disco Force A before a race on Oct. 26, 2006. Disco Force A. went off at 3-to-1 and placed that night.
The indictment doesn’t allege that any of the defendants bet on any of the horses in question, but the Barracks collected $900 in purse money from that race, according to court documents.
Licensing for ownership, training, driving and grooming of horses requires board approval of paperwork submitted by the applicant. There are no tests related to receiving a license, according to Gail Pronti of the state Racing and Wagering Board.
In March, the board suspended the owner and trainer licenses of William Barrack; the groom and owner licenses for Keith Barrack; the groom’s license for Marc Mosher; and the owner’s license for Robert Moscone. Forrester’s groom’s license expired in 2005 Pronti said the racetrack licenses of all five men have been suspended, and hearings will be held to determine whether they will be permanently revoked.
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