The Nevada Gaming Commission on Thursday reviewed rules that would strengthen oversight of rural horse racing fairs plagued by doping scandals in 2024.
The revised rules also delegate certain decisions to the chairman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board and coordinate the policies with the Association of Racing Commissioners Internationals. Specifically, the new rules also require the microchipping of horses to better identify participants, place limits on the use of whips and add new safety measures.
The amended Ordinance 30, which takes effect June 1, addresses several issues raised last year in the scandal-ridden Elko County Fair horse races in August and September 2024, in which horses drugged with cocaine and illegal narcotics won races and prize purses.
The commission was brought into the disciplinary proceedings after former State Racing Steward Doug Ray requested that it intervene in disciplinary decisions because he did not have the power to impose more severe penalties than is legally allowed.
Ray determined that in the second race of the August 24, 2024 Elko County Fair Board race at Elko, a horse trained by Alvaro Torres, The Saime Pro, won the race and its $7,000 purse. The horse was submitted for drug testing, a routine procedure for the winner.
Cocaine found
Test results indicated levels of cocaine, as well as a major urinary metabolite of cocaine, in the post-race urine sample. As a result, the winnings from the horse were redistributed to the next three finishers, and the state trustee fined Torres $1,000 and suspended his Nevada horse racing license for 180 days, the maximum extent of the trustee’s authority. At the time, the ordinance allowed the trustee to ask the gambling commission to review the case and impose a higher penalty. In the end, the commission agreed to fine Torres $5,000 and ban him from racing for up to five years.
More doping incidents occurred on August 31 and September 2, 2024.
Four horses won their respective races with Famous Prizes winning the second race, Dr. B won the fifth race and Bnb Hasta La Luna won the seventh race on August 31, 2024 and Bnb Lightning McQueen won the third race on September 2, 2024.
Post-race blood and urine tests showed the horses were high on methamphetamine and amphetamine, and two of the horses tested positive for Tramadol, an opioid pain medication.
$100,000 in fines
After an appeal in November of the commission’s June 2025 decision, the commissioners agreed to fine coach Ricardo Castillo Jr. $100,000 and had his license suspended for at least 15 years. In the appeal, Castillo, through his attorney, said he had no idea how the illegal substances ended up in the horses’ systems.
In a half-hour hearing Thursday, gaming commissioners voted unanimously to approve the amended Ordinance 30 that not only clarified how regulators can deal with horse racing disciplinary issues but expanded details that had previously been vague. Commissioners commended Senior Deputy Attorney General John Michela for his thorough review of the ordinance and the amendments he drafted.
“As I worked through these cases (the Torres and Castillo matter), I noted many different disciplinary pathways and issues,” Michela said. “The proposed changes create a clear disciplinary pathway and address the disciplinary issues I noted.”
When the commissioners first learned of the two cases, they were horrified and demanded a way to deal with animal cruelty. That prompted Michela to draft several rule changes. Among them:
-It adds 125 definitions of terms previously undefined in the previous version.
-Racehorses must be microchipped to prevent “ringers” from entering the race. The revised regulation defines a ringer as a horse that is fraudulently substituted for another to try to win a race and/or deceive the players.
-It sets dozens of details and restrictions on how jockeys can use whips to control their horses. Among them: “The whip shall be used only for safety, correction and limited encouragement and shall be appropriate, proportionate and professional…”
-It also requires all owners, trainers, jockeys, exercise riders, outriders, pony people and starting gate crew to wear safety vests and helmets properly when handling horses.
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