Rick Dutrow regains N.Y. training license after 10-year ban

After serving an unprecedented suspension of more than 10 years for drug violations that he unwaveringly denied, controversial Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Rick Dutrow regained his New York trainer’s license. He will resume his career as a conditioner of Thoroughbreds on Thursday, when the first horse is due to arrive at his barn at Belmont Park.

“I’m so excited. I can’t wait to get her over here and start having fun again,” the 63-year-old Dutrow, the son of legendary Maryland-based trainer Richard E. Dutrow Sr. and brother of trainer Anthony Dutrow, said Wednesday by phone.

The New York State Gaming Commission’s license database still listed Dutrow as “not able to participate” in horse racing in the state as of Wednesday morning, but agency spokesman Brad Maione confirmed that the trainer’s license was restored Monday.

“The application review by the bureau of licensing, in consultation with the division of racing, found that Mr. Dutrow had satisfied the penalty imposed by the racing and wagering board,” he said in an email to Horse Racing Nation. “Accordingly, Mr. Dutrow is currently licensed to participate in New York horse racing.”

New York Racing Association spokesman Patrick McKenna confirmed in a statement late Tuesday that Dutrow had been granted stalls at Belmont Park.

"Following the reinstatement of his trainer’s license by the New York State Gaming Commission, Rick Dutrow applied for and was granted stalls at Belmont Park for the 2023 spring-summer meet,” McKenna said. The meet opens May 4.

Dutrow said his ordeal of more than a decade would end officially Thursday, when the 3-year-old filly Recognize is due to arrive at his barn.

“She’s just a nice little New York-bred filly that’s got some talent,” he said of Recognize, a daughter of Bolt d’Oro, who previously won 1 of 6 starts for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. “We hope to win with her.”

Dutrow was the trainer of 2008 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner Big Brown and other top-flight racehorses such as 2005 horse of the year Saint Liam, Benny the Bull, Silver Train and Kip Deville. His 2011 suspension by New York racing authorities was one of the harshest penalties ever meted out in U.S. horse racing.

Authorities cited Dutrow’s long record of infractions, more than 70 at 15 racetracks in five states, by their account, in justifying the harsh penalty.

John Sabini, the chairman of what was then the New York Racing and Wagering Board, issued a statement at the time the suspension was announced saying racing had “no place or patience for Mr. Dutrow. His repeated violations and disregard of the rules of racing has eroded confidence in the betting public and caused an embarrassment throughout the industry.”

Dutrow consistently maintained his innocence and charged he was targeted by racing authorities and other industry officials because of his penchant for making truthful but embarrassing comments about certain racing practices, in particular his public acknowledgement that he had given the legal steroid Winstrol to Big Brown and other horses. He also said he branded as having a rowdy past that included drug abuse and numerous successes claiming horses from other owners and improving them.

His supporters – and he had many – noted that most of his previous infractions were minor, including being late to the paddock and failing to file foaling papers. He argued the drug violations did not merit such a long ban.

A more detailed refresher course on his case:

On Nov. 3, 2010, a search of Dutrow’s barn at Aqueduct led to seizure of three syringes loaded with the with the drug xylazine, a legal anesthetic but one that is not to be administered on race days under New York racing rules. The rules also prohibited the possession of such medical equipment at a racetrack by anyone other than state-licensed veterinarians.

Seventeen days later the Dutrow-trained horse Fastus Cactus tested positive for butorphanol, an opioid-like narcotic used to treat pain and, in some cases, to relieve coughing or vomiting in horses. That drug also is legal under New York racing rules but is not be administered to a horse within 96 hours of a race.

In February 2011, what was then the New York State Racing and Wagering Board suspended Dutrow for 90 days. Dutrow appealed the penalty, first administratively and later in state court, saying he had no knowledge of and did not use either butorphanol or xylazine on his horses. He also maintained that the syringes had been planted in his barn. All his appeals were rejected.

Shortly after the ruling, Ed Martin, president of the Kentucky-based Association of Racing Commissioners International, took the unusual step of sending a letter to New York racing officials and issuing a news release arguing that Dutrow should receive a harsher penalty. “At some point, an individual who continues to violate the rules of racing forfeits through his own actions the ability to be in the game,” said the letter. “At some point, enough is enough.”

In April 2011, the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission added to Dutrow’s legal woes, denying his request for a license and saying he had misrepresentations on his application and demonstrated “conduct against the best interest of racing.”

In October of that year, the New York board took the unprecedented step of rescinding the 90-day suspension and instead revoking Dutrow’s racing license for 10 years and fining him $50,000. Dutrow again appealed but lost and his license was canceled in early 2013.

On Feb. 25, 2013, lawyers for Dutrow filed a federal lawsuit against the New York State Gaming Commission and several of its officers, arguing that he had been "substantially and irreparably harmed" by the suspension and deprived of due process under the law. The lawsuit, which sought reinstatement of his trainer’s license and $20 million in damages, was ultimately dismissed.

On Nov. 24, 2019, retired New York steward Stephen Lewandowski wrote a letter to the commission supporting Dutrow’s assertion that the syringes had been planted. According to John Pricci of Horse Race Insider, the letter stated that “when discussing Mr. Dutrow's case during my time as the state steward, Mr. Braulio Baeza Jr., the NYRA steward at the time … told me on numerous occasions that evidence against Mr. Dutrow was planted.” Baeza later denied Lewandowski’s account.

There is far more to the story, but Dutrow said Wednesday he is not interested in rehashing the past.

“I want to stay away from anything that anybody could read that they’d look at the wrong way,” he said. “I want it to be behind me and I certainly hope that it is.”

Instead, Dutrow said he is working hard getting his barn ready for what initially will be just a few horses. But he said many former clients and some new ones have contacted him about training their horses and he hopes to grow the operation to between 50 and 75 horses within a year.

“I want to be in the thick of things, as long as I can get the right help,” he said.

Dutrow also expressed gratitude to people who supported him throughout his banishment. He declined to name names for fear of leaving some out, saying, “Man, there’s been so many people, I mean so many. I’d like to leave it at that.”

Asked what goals he has set for his first year back in the game he grew up in, Dutrow replied that he had only one, and it will be realized on Thursday, when Recognize enters his barn.

“When this horse gets to my barn tomorrow, I’ve already reached my goal,” he said. “All the rest of it is just dreams and stuff like that. But just to get back and have horses in my stable is a goal that I’ve been wanting to reach for quite a while.”

He also had a few word for racing fans.

“I’m going to be very happy when people cash their tickets on my horses,” he said. “I will be absolutely over the moon.”

Mike Brunker has covered horse racing since the 1980s for numerous media outlets, including the San Francisco Examiner, MSNBC.com, NBCSports.com, Thoroughbred Times and the Las Vegas Review-Journal.