The Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit has dropped possession charges against a trainer based at Parx racetrack, citing inconsistencies in witness testimony from investigators who conducted a search of the trainer’s barn in 2025, according to a statement released from the organization.
Felissa Dunn, the trainer, had been charged with two violations of HIWU’s anti-doping rules when testing of two of nine syringes seized during a May 27, 2025, search at her barn at Parx revealed the presence of two illegal drugs.
According to a statement, HIWU rescinded the charges on May 8, a decision approved by an arbitrator reviewing the case, after learning that an investigator employed by the Pennsylvania State Horse Racing Commission would provide testimony contrary to an initial witness statement, HIWU said.
In the statement, HIWU said that their legal team “had determined there was not a sufficient basis to proceed with adjudication of a possession charge in light of the newly discovered evidence regarding chain of custody.”
The statement said that HIWU “understood from statements made by investigators working on behalf of the PSHRC that only one investigator conducted” the May 27 search. In preparing for the arbitration hearing, however, another PSHRC investigator told HIWU that he would testify that two investigators conducted the search and collected and categorized the evidence.
“As a result, HIWU, could not rely on an unbroken chain of custody or the earlier statements of these witnesses,” HIWU said.
Dunn has been training off and on since 2009, but her win ratio soared beginning in 2024. She won 17 races from 56 starts in both 2024 and 2025, for a win rate of 30 percent and an in-the-money percentage of 64 percent in 2024 and 61 percent in 2025. She has won two races from 15 starts so far in 2026.
Separately, several news outlets reported this week that Tom Chuckas, the director of the PSHRC Bureau of Thoroughbred Racing, was dismissed after nearly a decade at the Pennsylvania regulatory agency. Tony Salerno, the director of the harness division, was also dismissed, according to the reports, along with Jason Klouser, the director of enforcement for the PSHRC.
The PSHRC did not respond to requests for comment from Daily Racing Form.
Prior to being hired by the PSHRC, Chuckas was the president and chief operating officer of the Maryland Jockey Club, the company owned at the time by The Stronach Group that ran racing at Pimlico Race Course and Laurel Park.
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