NEWS & VIEWS Bits & Pieces...
Rapid Redux Ties Citation Record On December 13, 2011, Rapid Redux tied
Triple Crown winner Citation’s 1948 record for the most wins in a single calendar year. Both horses now hold the national record with 19 wins. Rapid Redux won the sixth race at Laurel Park by a half-length over Awesome Review with J.D. Acosta in the irons for owner Rob- ert Cole and trainer David Wells. T e win also marks the 21st consecutive victory for the fi ve- year-old.
Canterbury Farm Trial Postponed– Again
Already rescheduled several times, the Cen-
terbury Farm equine neglect and cruelty case has been postponed yet again. Lawyers gathered on T ursday, December
8, 2011 at the Queen Anne’s County District Court for the trial of Marsha Parkinson, the owner of Canterbury Farm. Parkinson faces 133 criminal charges for failing to provide ade- quate care for her breeding herd of Polish Ara- bian horses, which was impounded last spring (please see
equiery.com/blog archives). According to the Star-Democract, Parkinson’s attorney, Jonathan P. Kagan of Baldwin, Ka- gan & Gormley LLC of Annapolis, claimed to need more time to prepare Parkinson’s defense and asked for a postponement. In order to grant the postponement, Parkin- son needed to waive her right to a speedy trial. Upon waiving that right, Judge John F. Nunn III (no relation to well-known Maryland resi- dent, owner of the retail and catalog store Bit of Britain Tack retail store and the manufactur- ing/importing company Nunn Finer Products, John Nunn) set new trial dates for February 27–March 2, 2012. In an interesting twist, according to the Star-
Democrat: “Rebecca Branzell, attorney for the Humane
Society of the United States, sought a protec- tive order relieving HSUS of providing items Kagan requested, saying the requests were overly broad and, in some cases, irrelevant. Kagan said HSUS [which assisted Queen
Anne’s County Department of Animal Ser- vices in relocating the horses] was pivotal in the case and he wanted to show their interest, purpose and bias. Nunn said, “I don’t care about the motivation of the Humane Society; I want to know if the horses were neglected.” Kagan said the case isn’t just about the con- dition of the horses; he wanted to know how much money HSUS had collected as a result of the seizure. [Queen Anne’s States Attorney Lance] Rich-
ardson asked how the issue of fundraising was relevant to the issue of neglect, [as the] HSUS didn’t make the decision to seize all the horses; that recommendation came from local veteri- narian Dr. Terry Corkran.
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Nunn denied the protective order except for fundraising documents and electronic records. HSUS has until January 13 to provide the re- cords requested.”
Pony Neglect Conviction
On December 7, 2011, Lynne Bergeron of McDaniel was convicted of neglecting her pony, Bonnie. T e Eastern Shore woman origi- nally faced three charges: animal cruelty, infl ict- ing unnecessary suff ering or pain and failure to provide proper care for a pony diagnosed suf- fering from Cushing’s Disease. Talbot County Animal Control investigated complaints in February of 2011 and found the pony underweight and with overgrown hooves. After some back and forth with various veteri- narians and other government offi cials, accord- ing to the Star-Democrat, Bergeron (a lifelong horse woman who apparently had been having fi nancial diffi culties) voluntarily relinquished the pony to Halo’s Haven Rescue in St. Michael’s, but Talbot County proceeded with the charges. At the early December trail, the judge found her guilty of the most minor of the three charges (neglect) and sentenced Bergeron to 18 months of probation and a small fi ne cov- ering court costs. Bergeron’s vet testifi ed in her defense. (For a link to the complete Star- Democrat article, please see
equiery.com/blog archives under “welfare.”)
PA Seizes MD Man’s Horses
On November 29, 2011,
equiery.com report- ed that Pennsylvania authorities had seized 21 neglected horses at the Littlestown farm being rented to a James Houseman. T e Pennsylva- nia station, ABC 27, which reported the story, claimed that Frederick County offi cials were investigating Mr. Houseman for a similar situ- ation at a farm he leases in T urmont, Mary- land (Frederick County). T e Equiery followed up the story by contact- ing the Frederick News-Post to ask whether or not the Frederick News-Post was investigating this Frederick County story. As a result of T e Equiery’s urging, on Saturday, December 3, the Frederick News-Post did publish a thorough up- date of the Maryland situation. According to the Frederick News-Post, the horses at the T urmont farm were not in as criti- cal condition as the horses in Pennsylvania, so Frederick County Animal Control authorities decided to proactively work with Mr. Houseman, via education eff orts and regular monitoring, to help ensure that he complied with Maryland’s minimal standards of care laws for equines. T us far, Frederick County Animal Control is satisfi ed with the condition of the horses, and is satisfi ed that Mr. Houseman is attempting to provide adequate water and nutrition. Offi cials say they will continue to monitor the health and well-being of the horses. To read the Frederick News-Post story in full,
visit
equiery.com/blog archives for “Welfare.”
PG Equestrian Center Audited T is summer, Prince George’s County offi - cials launched an audit of the Prince George’s Equestrian Center, specifi cally targeting poten- tial spending irregularities by Bill Chambers, who served as the facility manager until the audit began, and who then retired. In the interest of full disclosure, T e Equiery
directly experienced the wrath and retribution of Mr. Chambers. T e Prince George’s Equestrian Center is a publicly funded institution; its bud- gets and projects are approved by our elected of- fi cials. After T e Equiery questioned why PGEC had not made certain equestrian improvements, the budget for which had been allocated and ap- proved by elected offi cials, Mr. Chambers can- celed PGEC’s advertising in T e Equiery and banned T e Equiery from being distributed on the premises. Our readers revolted, letters to the editor poured in, and Mr. Chambers was forced to restore distribution of T e Equiery at the Equestrian Center. But Mr. Chambers nursed the grudge and refused to renew PGEC’s adver- tising, and PGEC has not advertised with T e Equiery since it canceled its contract. So, while we have no fi rst-hand knowledge of any alleged spending irregularities, we certainly found it questionable––and suspicious—that horse projects with approved funding never seemed to materialize. And we found his re- sponse to criticism to be character-revealing. According to the Washington Examiner, the
Maryland National-Capital Park & Planning Commission, which owns and operates the facility, has asked that the Maryland Stadium Authority review the PGEC operations and facilities. MNCP&PC has underwritten $4 million in losses for the prior fi scal year, and elected offi cials are interested in determining whether the PGEC can be self-sustaining with its current mission and focus, or whether that mission and focus need to be adjusted in order for the facility to be self-sustaining.
Racing Commission Approves Deal For 146 Days of Live Racing in 2012
Once again, the schedule comes down to the
wire and is rattling everyone just before the Christmas holidays, with the owners of Laurel and Pimilco (Frank Stronach’s family) propos- ing a meager 40-day calendar, and the horse- men opposing the proposal. T e Maryland T oroughbred Horsemen’s Association has once again had to off er money to the owners of Laurel/Pimlico in order to convince them to maintain a full calendar. It just appears to be a routine shakedown/extortion scheme to us. Last year, MJC was able to get MTHA to give them $1.7 million, and this year they were able to twist the collective arm of the MTHA for even more. But, the Maryland Racing Com- continued on page 10
JANUARY 2012 | THE EQUIERY | 9
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