Integrity firm investigating five horse races after unusual betting and form reversals

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority is investigating five races held Sunday at Saratoga Race Course and Monmouth Park after detecting unusual betting patterns and dramatic performance improvements on horses linked to Fair Hill Training Facility in Maryland, per ESPN. The investigation was triggered after U.S. and U.K. bookmakers detected anomalies in the races, marking the first time overseas betting operators have alerted HISA to irregularities in American racing.

All five horses under investigation, The Great Amira, Tepeyac, Classic Rock, M Bs Melanie Cares, and Scootaloo, had worked out at Fair Hill this summer and entered races Sunday after coming off extended layoffs. Four of the five won, with performances that defied their previous form and morning-line odds. The Great Amira, listed at around 20-1 in the morning line, closed at 17-1 and won the third race at Monmouth Park by 9 1/2 lengths after finishing last in both of its lifetime starts. Tepeyac, 9-2 on the morning line, went off at 4-1 and won the fourth race. Classic Rock was 10-1 in the morning line, went off at 8-1, and won Race 4 at Saratoga by 8 3/4 lengths. M B Melanie Cares went off at 12-1 and won Race 7 at Saratoga by over three lengths. Only Scootaloo finished out of the money, finishing fourth in Race 3 at Saratoga.

The betting payouts raised red flags among observers and bookmakers. A two-leg parlay on The Great Amira and Tepeyac at their odds would typically have returned upward of $180, but enough money was bet on both horses to win to compress the Daily Double payout to just over $25, according to ESPN. Michael Beychok, a longtime high-level bettor, told ESPN: "The daily double being so short was a red flag. But also the form reversals of these horses were extraordinary, on the same day."

All four winning horses underwent post-race drug testing by the Horseracing Integrity & Wellness Unit. Trainer Angel Quiroz is connected to all five horses, either as the listed trainer or as a previous trainer before ownership transfers. Quiroz was the listed trainer for The Great Amira and Tepeyac. He previously trained Classic Rock and M Bs Melanie Cares before they were sold to Ernesto Ochoa, who was listed as trainer and owner of those two horses for Sunday's races. Quiroz was also the listed trainer for Scootaloo.

Contacted by Thoroughbred Daily News, Quiroz defended the performances: "It's very simple. I took my horses and ran them at Monmouth Park and won the races and I took one horse to Saratoga and she ran fourth. Everybody is shocked. I don't see what the big deal is or what the problem is. I'm supposed to run all the time and not try to win the race?" Ochoa posted on social media in Spanish that he was "very happy for the triumphs achieved over the weekend" and wrote on X: "Everyone is free to think and opine. That's the reality of a wonderful activity like horse racing." Neither Quiroz nor Ochoa has been accused of any wrongdoing.

LISA Lazarus, CEO of HISA, told ESPN she began receiving calls Sunday night from people concerned about the performances and from others pointing out betting anomalies detected in the U.S. and U.K. "This is very unusual," Lazarus said, and added: "We take this extremely seriously, working with all these organizations to make sure that we can determine what, if anything, happened. And obviously, if any rules were broken, there will be serious consequences." Lazarus confirmed that it was the first time U.K. bookmakers had contacted HISA about unusual betting activity on American races.

HISA, established in 2020 under the federal Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act, operates as a private non-profit regulatory organization under the Federal Trade Commission to provide a national framework of rules for the racing industry. Quiroz was linked to two horses scheduled to run Monday in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, both of which were scratched ahead of their races.