By: Matt Hegarty

The New Jersey Racing Commission on Wednesday approved a recommendation from the stewards at Monmouth Park that the commission increase a set of fines that had been levied on trainer Jorge Navarro and the owner Randal Gindi, according to the executive director of the commission.

The commission voted to increase the fine for Gindi to $20,000, up from the stewards’ initial fine of $5,000, and to increase Navarro’s fine from $5,000 to $10,000. The stewards had initially levied a $5,000 fine on both Navarro and Gindi on Sept. 12 for “conduct extremely detrimental to racing” for a video that was posted on YouTube on Aug. 4 in which both the trainer and the owner used foul language and terms suggesting the use of illegal substances while rooting on a horse at Gulfstream Park in Florida trained by Jorge’s brother Marcial.

By rule, the stewards at Monmouth are limited to issuing $5,000 fines, but they can recommend that the racing commission levy additional fines. The stewards’ order cited “conduct extremely detrimental to racing.”

Reached by phone after the hearing, Navarro, who was the leading trainer at Monmouth Park’s meet this year, said that he apologized to the commission for his behavior on the video and said he was “ashamed” of his actions.

“I embarrassed my family, my fellow trainers, my employees, and the handicappers,” Navarro said. “Monmouth Park has treated me nothing but fairly, and what I did to them was very bad. I promise I will never in my life behave that way again.”

On the same day as the hearing, horses trained by Navarro were scratched from races at Delaware Park on the order of the Delaware State Racing Commission, according to the executive director of racing at the track, John Mooney. The racing commission had ordered the track to stop tacking entries from Navarro earlier this week, Mooney said, citing the New Jersey case. Delaware takes entries five days in advance.

Delaware is now the third racing entity to take action against Navarro since the video surfaced. Last week, Indiana Grand and the Maryland Jockey Club refused to take entries from Navarro, who has a checkered history of medication violations.

Mooney said that Delaware Park had planned to ban Navarro’s horses but were beaten to the punch by the Delaware commission. He also said that the track does not expect the ban to be lifted following the resolution of the New Jersey case.

“I don’t know if that will be changed, to be frank,” Mooney said. “[Officials of the Delaware racing commission] see this is as being extremely detrimental to racing, and we agree.”

Frank Zanzuccki, the New Jersey executive director, said that Navarro and Gindi will have the option of appealing the commission’s approval of additional fines, but he said he did not expect Navarro to take that route, citing his appearance in front of the commission on Wednesday.

Gindi races as Monster Racing Stable, and his operation has started 65 horses this year, with 28 winners and earnings of $627,398. He did not immediately return a phone message on Wednesday afternoon.