LINCOLN — The Nebraska Racing Commission delayed taking action Thursday upon a request by suspended trainer David Anderson to be reinstated.
Anderson, a member of the Nebraska Racing Hall of Fame, was fined $4,000 and suspended for three years in February of 2010 after two of his horses tested positive for banned substances at Omaha's Horsemen's Park. The request for the early reinstatement was made by Anderson's attorney, Mike Kelley of Omaha.
"You (the commission) routinely have considered reinstatement over the years,'' Kelley said. "We need to have an answer and we were hoping for one before the first of the year.''
Natalie Hart, a member of the attorney general's office that prosecuted the case, asked the commission to delay any action because nothing had been submitted by Anderson in writing. The trainer did not attend Thursday's commission meeting.
"According to regulations, a request must be written so we know what we're responding to,'' Hart said. "I don't know what the basis for reinstatement is.''
Kelley, a longtime attorney for members of the racing industry, said his understanding was that the commission had the ability to issue or not issue licenses.
"The basis for that is what I've seen over the past 30 to 40 years,'' he said. "I'll file a (written) motion tomorrow, but we want a teleconference as soon as possible.''
Kelley said he didn't want the commission to delay a decision until its next scheduled meeting in February. That would be the same week that Grand Island's Fonner Park would begin its live racing meet.
"If the answer is no, we need to know,'' Kelley said. "We can't wait for an answer a day before the Fonner meet because he (Anderson) would need to be making plans now.''
Commission chairman Dennis Lee presented a motion that Anderson's status would be addressed soon by the commission via a teleconference. The motion passed unanimously.
By a 2-1 vote, the commission ruled in 2010 that Anderson could not apply for a license for three years. The state attorney general's office had recommended an even stiffer penalty, a five-year suspension.
Since that ruling, the three-member commission has grown to five with the addition of Omaha attorney Kristopher Covi and Lincoln attorney Jeffrey Galyen. Hart said copies of the evidence and testimony from the case would need to be made available for review by the two newest commissioners.
"As one of the new guys,'' Covi said, "I'd like to see that information before the conference call.''
In other commission business Thursday:
• Omahan Lee was unanimously re-elected chairman and Janell Beveridge of Paxton was unanimously named vice-chairman.
• The staff was approved for 2012.
• Horsemen's Park General Manager Greg Hosch told the commission the racetrack would like to install several "Bank Shot" video games that have been ruled legal by the Nebraska Supreme Court.
• Hosch also told the commission the search is under way for a new manager at Horsemen's Atokad Downs in South Sioux City.
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