At a regularly scheduled meeting Oct. 20, the New York State Gaming Commission unanimously voted to permanently revoke licensing privileges of former racetrack groom Ramzan Antooa of Elmont, N.Y. Antooa was arrested on criminal charges this summer after Belmont Park security personnel witnessed Antooa letting 2-year-old filly Pasta out of her stall at the track, after which she ran loose and fell, sustaining catastrophic injuries.
Antooa was charged earlier this year with burglary and reckless endangerment of property. He faces arraignment in Nassau County Court on Oct. 22.
A hearing officer determined Antooa “lacked the general character and fitness to hold a racing license.”
Also at the Oct. 20 meeting, the commission suspended harness driver Kevin Cummings for an incident on July 18 after which Cummings was charged with “engaging in an indiscriminate, unnecessary, brutal, and excessive use of the whip” while driving Keystone Keen in the tenth race at Buffalo Raceway, resulting in visible welts on the horse.
The commission handed Cummings a six-month suspension with credit for time served and a fine of $2,500 — both increases from the hearing officer’s recommendations of a 60-day suspension with credit and a $500 fine.
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