Fourteen people – a veterinarian and 13 trainers – are alleged by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) to have engaged in “an organized effort to evade HISA rules designed to protect and enhance the health and safety of horses and riders,” HISA said in a media advisory Feb. 21.

Veterinarian Dr. Allen Bonnell and 13 trainers are alleged to have conspired to administer intra-articular injections to the joints of more than 100 horses within the prohibited stand-down periods.

Under HISA rules, a horse that receives an intra-articular injection may not work for seven days or race for 14, regardless of what is injected. If corticosteroids are administered to the fetlock of a horse, those periods increase to 14 days to work and 30 to race.

“The act of the injection itself is what’s prohibited,” said Ben Moser, executive director of the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU), under whose jurisdiction some of the violations fall.

In the alleged violations, horses frequently received injections within just a few days of a race.

The series of violations took place in 2023 and 2024. The injections were administered at Penn National Race Course in Grantville, PA, though some of the horses then raced at other tracks, including Delaware Park, Laurel Park, Pimlico, Colonial Downs, Charles Town Races, and Finger Lakes.

According to HISA, of those horses to have received intra-articular injections – which can help mask pain – 30% never raced again. Approximately 10% were observed to be lame after their next race following the injection, and three horses were euthanized as a result of injuries sustained in their next race.

“This egregious breach of integrity and intentional undermining of equine welfare is a stark reminder of why rigorous oversight and enforcement are critical to the future of horse racing,” HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus said in a statement. “The health and safety of horses and jockeys are paramount, and those who deliberately put them at risk will be held accountable.”

In addition to Bonnell, trainers named in the allegations include Kimberly Graci, Bonnie Lucas, Javier Morzan, and Marlin Arthur (Joe) Miller. Several others’ names will be revealed shortly, HISA said, per their public disclosure regulations.

Penalties could include forfeiture of purses, periods of Ineligibility for the Covered Persons and fines.

Bonnell admitted to injecting horses with two substances, hyaluronic acid, which is not a prohibited substance, and the corticosteroid flumethasone.

The investigation, spearheaded by the Pennsylvania State Horse Racing Commission, kicked off in October 2024 when chief state veterinarian Dr. David Marshall contacted Commission investigators to tell them he had seen Bonnell injecting the knee of a horse on October 21 but that Bonnell had failed to document the injection properly as required by HISA rules.

Initially ducking investigors’ questions, Bonnell eventually came clean, according to the report. He told investigators that some trainers requested that he provide intra-articular injections “because they know he will not report them as required allowing them to run their horses during the time they should have been placed on the veterinarians list.”

According to the report, trainer Kimberly Graci admitted employing Bonnell’s services and directing him to provide investigators an incorrect horse name if asked. It was “common knowledge” that Bonnell would not properly report such injections, she allegedly told investigators.

Another trainer, Marlin Miller, told investigators that Bonnell “will not inject a horse more than a week out from a race” because “it will wear off,” the report says.

The injections Bonnell provided, according to the report, frequently came after horses had been entered to run. In the case of trainer Bonnie Lucas, for example, the report says that 34 of 37 horses Bonnell had injected were already entered; for trainer Javier Morzan, it was nine out of 12.

For all that, these injections did not trigger post-race positives. That’s in part because one substance, hyaluronic acid, is not prohibited. The other, flumethasone, is “fast-acting,” Mosier said.

Both Mosier and Lazarus lauded their “great partnership” with Pennsylvania’s commission, and Lazarus said that the investigation was “absolutely ongoing.”

“Certainly the fact that it was so intentional and there were so many violations over a protracted period of time… I would imagine this would be, you know, strong evidence of sort of aggravating conditions and serious conditions,” Lazarus added.