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Hearing on Hollywood Gaming race scheduled for Friday
Racing official says penalties are possibility
By Kalea Hall
AUSTINTOWN
The investigation of an unusual racing incident should come to an end Friday.
Track stewards will hear the details of an investigation into the winner of the ninth Nov. 4 thoroughbred horse race at Austintown’s Hollywood Gaming at the Mahoning Valley Race Course.
“There could be penalties,” said Bill Crawford, director of the Ohio State Racing Commission.
The hearing will begin Friday at 11 a.m. at Hollywood Gaming, 655 N. Canfield Niles Road, and it is open to the public.
The racing commission and Penn National, the company that operates Hollywood Gaming, both opened an investigation after a horse that was entered into the race was found by a state veterinarian not to be the actual horse that raced and won.
The winning horse’s markings, sex and lip tattoo were different from the horse entered.
A female horse named Ruby Queen was the horse that was entered into the race, but a male horse named Leathers Slappin’ was actually the horse that raced and won.
Three stewards, or judges, will listen to what the Ohio State Racing Commission’s staff found in their investigation and possibly make a decision to issue penalties to those involved.
The horse checker, whose job is to check the lip tattoo of every horse before each race to make sure it matches the one entered, was suspended shortly after the incident pending the outcome of the hearing, said Penn National Spokesman Bob Tenenbaum.
Penn’s “internal inquiry” into the incident is ongoing, Tenenbaum said.