Trainer Marcus Vitali, who in the summer of 2022 was suspended by the New York Racing Association from participating at its tracks, has a horse entered to run Friday at Aqueduct.
Vitali has a valid license issued by the New York State Gaming Commission, and NYRA accepted his entry of Classy Lass for Friday’s fifth race, a $17,500 claiming race on the dirt.
“Marcus Vitali has satisfied the terms of the NYRA settlement agreement reached in 2022 and is licensed to participate in racing activities by the New York State Gaming Commission,” NYRA spokesman Pat McKenna wrote in an email. “As such, he is currently permitted to enter races on the NYRA circuit.”
Vitali last ran a horse at a NYRA track in 2021, when Red Venus finished seventh in a claiming race at Saratoga. He raced five horses at NYRA tracks in 2019 and made seven starts at Finger Lakes in 2021.
In September 2021, NYRA brought charges against Vitali in seeking to ban him from participating at NYRA tracks. NYRA stated that from between in or about 2010 to in or about 2020, Vitali “amassed an extensive record of medication violations, lengthy suspensions, improperly using 'program' or 'paper' trainers during suspensions, and obstructing an investigation into alleged wrongdoing. In the past five years, [Vitali] was denied entry, ejected, and/or had license applications denied by regulators of Thoroughbred racing in Florida, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New York, and Delaware.”
NYRA announced these charges at the same time it sought to ban Bob Baffert from its tracks, which it did for about a year. Baffert has been permitted to run at NYRA tracks since late January 2023. NYRA held separate hearings for both Baffert and Vitali.
In July 2022, NYRA announced it had reached a settlement agreement “resolving and discontinuing the administrative proceeding” involving Vitali, but the terms of the settlement were confidential. A source at the time confirmed that Vitali was banned from NYRA tracks, but it was unclear for how long.
The only mention of Vitali on the New York State Gaming Commission website was a denial of a license application made in August 2018 because Vitali “failed to comply with licensing requirements.”
Asked for an explanation as to why Vitali was granted a license to participate in New York, a spokesman for the Commission, in an e-mailed statement, wrote, “In September 2024, Mr. Vitali submitted the information necessary to be eligible to participate. His license application is under review.”
“You’re talking 2019, that’s a long time,” Vitali said Thursday. “I’ve accepted my responsibilities. We’re moving forward.”
Vitali, 64, said he has 10 horses currently based at Hawthorne in Illinois. He said he entered Classy Lass in New York because races in this condition at other tracks at which he’s able to participate didn’t fill.
Vitali said he does not plan to request stalls at NYRA.
“I don’t have a lot of stock that fits New York, maybe two or three,” Vitali said.
Prior to Classy Lass, Vitali made all 21 of his starts this year at Turf Paradise, where he won four races. Classy Lass won a turf race there on April 3.
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