| West
Trenton, NJ - "With these arrests,
the New Jersey State Police has dealt a
crushing blow to illegal activity in the
sport of harness racing," said Colonel
Rick Fuentes.
Troopers
in the Horse Race Unit arrested four people
after an investigation into illegal performance
enhancement of racehorses. Eric S. Ledford,
35, Monroe Twp., Middlesex County, of Seldon
Ledford Stables was arrested at the driver's
locker room at the Meadowlands Racetrack
and charged with conspiracy to rig a publicly
exhibited contest (race-fixing). Two Ledford
employees were also arrested, along with
the veterinarian who supplied drugs to the
operation. Twelve search warrants were executed
Friday in Freehold, East Windsor and Englishtown
after the investigation, dubbed "Operation
Horsepower," revealed evidence of injecting
horses with prescription drugs prior to
races.
"By
taking down one of the top finishers in
the sport, Operation Horsepower will create
a ripple effect that will be felt throughout
the entire horse racing industry,"
said Major Jim Fallon, commanding officer
of the Special Investigation Section. "Based
on the attention these arrests have created,
everyone who lost a race to a Ledford horse
may now be asking some serious questions,"
he added.
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 were arrested on Friday
morning at their home. The Daileys are both
employed by Seldon Ledford Stables. Ryan
is an assistant trainer and Ardena is stable
employee. Both were charged with race rigging
and possession of drugs.
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 was also
arrested Friday and charged with conspiracy
to rig a publicly exhibited contest. Witmer's
bank accounts and assets, valued at approximately
$1,000,000, were frozen after his arrest.
The value of seized pharmaceutical items
is estimated in excess of $150,000.
Deputy
Attorney General Christine D'Elia has been
working with the State Police Horse Racing
Unit on this 18-month-long investigation
and provided legal guidance and oversight
of the search warrant applications.
Chris
McErlean, Vice President of Racing Operations
at the Meadowlands, offered the State Police
detectives full cooperation in the investigation.
"The Meadowlands is extremely concerned
with the integrity of our races and the
entire horse racing industry. The expectation
of fairness in our racing and its results
is our lifeblood," said McErlean. "The
New Jersey racetracks and horsemen pay over
$2.7 million per year to the New Jersey
Racing Commission to conduct drug testing;
the Meadowlands is the largest contributor
to a private investigative arm that works
in the standardbred industry and we have
been a leading proponent of detention barns
- requiring horses to be in a secured barn
area, supervised by the Meadowlands, 24
hours prior to a race. We will continue
to do as much as is legally within our means
to address the security and integrity matters
related to our racing product. We would
hope that all other tracks, and horsemen,
would do the same."
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.
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