House cleaning at Penn National

It was an exciting week, to say the least, at Penn National Race Course in Grantville, Pa.

Trainer Darryl Delahoussaye was arrested by State Police on July 28 and nailed with a slew of charges - two felony counts of theft by deception and one misdemeanor count each of rigging a publicly exhibited contest, administering drugs to racehorses, and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence.

The arrest came after a Dauphin County, Pa. Grand Jury investigation; Delahoussaye posted $20,000 bail and was released the same day.

Delahoussaye has a string of suspensions and fines dating back to 1984, when his license was revoked in Louisiana for having a felony conviction. Other misdeeds perpetrated by Delahoussaye including shocking a horse with an electrical device and possession of injectable drugs at Beulah Park in 1998.

Delahoussaye, a trainer for owner Mike Gill, who was barred from the Grantville oval earlier this year, is only one in a long cast of characters who either have been tabbed by the Grand Jury in its investigation, or will be.

On July 29, owner Henry S. Witt, Jr. was ejected from Penn National after an alleged discovery of injectables by investigators. A number of horses that had been owned by Gill after his ejection from Penn National ended up racing in Witt’s name, including one trained by Delahoussaye.

Iron Man Surprise raced in January at the Grantville oval for Gill and trainer Anthony Adamo; in late March, the horse began running under Witt’s name, with Delahoussaye as trainer. The horse most recently ran on July 13 for Witt with Brandon Jenkins as trainer.  Here's a picture of some of Gill's horses, courtesy of the Associated Press:

According to published reports, there are more arrests to come, including those in association with racketeering, money laundering and wire fraud.

Before his ejection from Penn National, Gill owned Elk Creek Ranch in Oxford, Pa., a training center.  Here's a picture of it:

The opinion here is that these charges and arrests are long overdue. Any person who is cruel to horses – as the charges levied against Delahoussaye, both past and present, clearly indicate that he was – deserves to have his license yanked.

Stay tuned on this one.

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Philadelphia Park is getting ready to close shop for the month of August, during which time the main oval will be getting some much-needed maintenance.

The Bensalem track will be closed for live racing from between August 4 and August 29, but horsemen will only lose about 10 days of training time. Although there will be no live action, the grandstand will be open for simulcasting.

In August, the Philadelphia Park product faces fierce competition for the wagering dollar from Delaware Park, Monmouth Park and Saratoga, as well as Del Mar.