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Disgraced horse trainer known as ‘Juice Man' set for release from prison after ‘extreme' doping scandal and £19m fine
A DISGRACED horse trainer known as 'Juice Man' is set to be released from prison - after his role in an 'extreme' doping scandal that shamed the sport.
Jorge Navarro, 50, was ordered to pay a £19million fine when he was sentenced to five years behind bars in December 2021.
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The leading US trainer, who had more than 1,000 winners and bagged huge races including the Golden Shaheen in Dubai, was described as a 'reckless fraudster' and, amid tears, pleaded guilty to doping horses in a Manhattan courtroom.
He said at the time: "I was hungry to be a winner and somewhere along the line the pressure got to me.
"I thought I had to win to be respected in the racing industry.
"I became a selfish person who only cared about winning and I lost my way.
"I take responsibility for all that I have done and apologise to the people that I have hurt."
A post from respected journalist Ray Paulick showed Navarro was due for release from a Miami prison on Tuesday, June 18.
US District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil handed down Navarro's sentence four-and-a-half years ago and, in summing up, described the scale of his cheating.
She said: "For years, Mr Navarro, you effectively stole millions, cheating other trainers, owners and jockeys you competed against.
"You also demonstrated a collective, callous disregard for the wellbeing of the horses.
"The bottom line is you likely killed or endangered the horses in your care.
"The reality is someone who loves horses does not subject them to such cruel and dangerous treatment."
While US Attorney Damian Williams said: "Jorge Navarro's case reflects failings, greed, and corruption at virtually every level of the world of professional horse racing.
"For money and fame, corrupt trainers went to increasing extremes to dope horses under their care.
"Unscrupulous owners, who stood to profit directly, encouraged and pressured trainers to win at any cost.
"Veterinarians sworn to the care and protection of their patients routinely violated their oaths in service of corrupt trainers and to line their own pockets.
"Assistants and grooms all witnessed animal abuse in the service of greed, but did little to stop such conduct, and engaged in myriad ways to support notoriously corrupt trainers.
"Structures designed for the protection of the horses abused in this case failed repeatedly; fixtures of the industry – owners, veterinarians, and trainers – flouted rules and disregarded their animals' health while hypocritically incanting a love for the horses under their control and ostensible protection.
"Standing as the keystone for this structure of abuse, corruption, and duplicity was Jorge Navarro, a trainer who treated his animals as expendable commodities in the service of his 'sport.'
"This sentence appropriately condemns the danger inherent in Navarro's crime and reflects the seriousness with which this Office takes the kind of abuse that Navarro practiced."
Navarro's most famous horse was 2019 Shaheen winner X Y Jet, who he regularly drugged with a substance he called 'monkey'.
The grey sprinter died from an apparent heart attack in January 2020.
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