Iowa has its first criminal charges being filed for allegedly cheating at a gambling game. The charges stem from allegations of what used to be referred to as juicing horses before a race. After all, with horse racing it's just a matter of time. 

Having grown up in Rhode Island during the 60’s and 70’s I’ve seen and heard it all. When in the 1980's Iowa started down this road with the lottery and then pari-mutuel betting I knew time would get Iowa to where Rhode Island had been and since then I've been waiting for these stories to appear in the news. Narragansett Race Track was Rhode Island's track. It had its criminal enterprises actively engaged at the track. The Gansett was formed in June of 1934 immediately following the legalization of pari-mutuel betting. The horse barns held 1,650 horses. At a cost of $1.2 million dollars Gansett was built on an old airport. Seabuiscut ran at Gansett as did War Admiral. Mickey Rooney, Jack Dempsey and other celebrities visited the park. Watch this video and you’ll learn about how the National Guard was called in to assist the governor in closing the Park after accusing the Park President of shady practices or corruption. Two fires caused the death of 23 horses. The Gansett finally closed September 4, 1978. That was a 44 year run. After it closed the Gansett was purchased in 1979 by the City of Pawtucket to be cleared for an industrial park. I predict that will the fate of Prairie Meadows.

So what happened in Iowa that caused the prosecution to file charges? The allegations stem from a horse allegedly being injected or given a pill while horse barn surveillance cameras recorded the activity. The person injecting the horse was allegedly not a veterinarian, a state requirement. The docket number appears to be Case: 05771 FECR240933 (POLK) for DCI 10-056117. The docket entry is “Cheating in an Organized Horse Race”.

One of our own, Maggi Moss, an attorney from Iowa is also a horse race owner. Maggi is a character of untold dimension and breadth. Tomorrow we'll talk about Maggi.