An 81-year-old veterinarian and two trainers with decades of experience who were summarily suspended in November by the Pennsylvania State Horse Racing Commission (PSHRC) for allegedly having engaged in “inappropriate, illegal or unethical conduct” at Penn National Race Course are among 14 individuals facing charges related to violations of intra-articular injection rules. The new allegations were announced Feb. 21 by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) and the Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit (HIWU).

A coordinated investigation led by the PSHRC-first reported by TDN’s J.N. Campbell three months ago-had revealed that Allen Post Bonnell, a veterinarian who has been practicing for 45 years, allegedly conspired with 13 implicated trainers from May 2023 through November 2024 to administer intra-articular injections to the joints of Thoroughbreds within the prohibited stand-down periods, in direct violation of HISA’s Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) and Racetrack Safety Programs.

Three trainers-Kimberly A. Graci, Marlin Arthur “Joe” Miller and Bonnie Lee Lucas-were named in a PSHRC “investigative progress report” that HISA provided to the media on Friday as part of the “notice of violation” dated Feb. 20 that had been served to Bonnell.

The names of other trainers are redacted in that report, although a HISA press release stated that the identities of additional trainers accused of a violation will be eventually released in accordance with the agency’s disclosure process.

As of deadline for this story on Friday, only Bonnell, Graci, Miller, Lucas and Javier Morzan have been served with violation notices. They have until Mar. 3 to submit written responses to the allegations. Those charges represent only HISA and HIWU’s side of the story.

According to the PSHRC report, on Oct. 21, 2024, Pennsylvania’s chief state veterinarian Dr. David Marshall allegedly “observed practicing veterinarian Dr. Allen Bonnell injecting the knee of a horse in the wash stall of barn #24.” When Bonnell failed to report the required documentation for that process, PSHRC investigators questioned him.

Bonnell, according to the report, stated that he “wasn’t injecting the horse but instead was draining fluid from the horse’s knee joint. Investigators asked Dr. Bonnell what size syringe he was using, and he stated, ‘probably a 10 ml.’ Investigators explained that Dr. Marshall observed him using a 3 ml syringe with liquid inside that did not appear to be joint fluid.”

The report further alleged that Bonnell was initially not truthful about the names and dates of horses he had been allegedly injecting for trainer Graci.

“Dr. Bonnell was finally forthright with investigators and admitted that Ms. Graci told him to use a different horse’s name if he reported the injection. Investigators inquired why he wouldn’t report this injection as required and he advised that Ms. Graci asked him not to report it so the horse-whom Bonnell admitted had been treated in four major leg joints “with 2cc of Hyaluronic Acid and 2cc of Flumethasone”-would be able to race later that week.

The report continued: “Investigators asked Dr. Bonnell if there were any other trainers he provided this service for and he stated that he also does intra-articular injections for [a list of trainers whose names were redacted in the report]. When questioned how recently he had provided this service for these trainers he stated that he had done it within the last couple weeks.

“Dr. Bonnell informed investigators that trainers will request his services for intra-articular injections because they know he will not report them as required allowing them to run their horses during the time they should have been placed on the veterinarians list. Investigators inquired if he charges extra for not reporting intra-articular injections and he advised he just charges a standard rate of $50,” the report stated.

“Dr. Bonnell went on to say that he feels what he is doing is harmless and it just helps the horse with pain and inflammation. He said the reason he does not report it is that the injections he gives are worthless if it’s done too far out because it eventually wears off. If he reports it and the horse is put on the veterinarians list for 14 days, it could be an additional 14 days to a month, even two months, before it runs in a race,” the report stated.

Graci was subsequently questioned by the PSHRC, and the investigative report stated that she “has had at least 55 horses in her stable receive intra-articular injections a total of 106 separate times from Dr. Bonnell. None of these injections were recorded on the Certificate of Intra-Articular Injection form and turned into the PSHRC veterinary office as required. Of the 106 times Ms. Graci had Dr. Bonnell conduct IA injections, 101 of those times the horse was entered into a race, and five times the horse performed a published workout.”

TDN could not reach Bonnell on Friday to obtain comment on the HISA and HIWU allegations.

In a November article published by the Paulick Report in the wake of Bonnell’s summary suspension by the PSHRC, the veterinarian told Ray Paulick that he believes the “HISA rules are a nightmare” because they “don’t make any sense.”

Bonnell told the Paulick Report at that time that investigators “saw me do it” and that he did not plan to contest the state-level charges that were brought before this week’s HISA notice of violation.

“It’s one thing to do something that’s cheating, but this is not cheating. This is taking care of the animal,” he told the Paulick Report three months ago.

HISA disagreed, stating in a press release Friday that of the more than 100 unique horses alleged to have breezed or raced in violation of HISA’s intra-articular stand-down times, 30% never raced again, “strongly suggesting these injections were used to mask pain.”

Approximately 10% were observed to be lame post-race by a regulatory veterinarian. Three horses were euthanized as a direct result of injuries sustained in those races, HISA stated.

“The factual context is really one rogue veterinarian working with 13 trainers who were complicit,” said Lisa Lazarus, HISA’s chief executive officer, during a Friday press conference. “And ultimately, this could happen at any track.

“It’s something that we’re consistently monitoring,” Lazarus continued. “I wouldn’t say that Pennsylvania or Penn National is a problem track. We’ve had really good cooperation with the track and the horsemen’s groups in dealing with these issues. The Pennsylvania racing commission summarily suspended Dr. Bonnell quite early in the process. And so overall, I wouldn’t characterize it [like Pennsylvania is rife with violators]. But obviously, we’ll continue to look carefully at Penn National and look carefully at the follow-up.”

Ben Mosier, the executive director for HIWU, underscored during the press conference that, “these violations are not due to the substances that are being injected. But it’s due to the act of the injections within the time frame established in the rules.”

Lazarus said the evidence against the alleged violators is strong.

“A Pennsylvania state racing investigator actually first caught Dr. Bonnell performing an intra-articular injection,” Lazarus said. “And it was clear that it hadn’t been recorded, or notified, to HISA, so that obviously motivated a deeper investigation and search, both with HISA, HIWU, and then working with the racing commission.

“And so there was both actual, visual evidence from the investigators, as well as multiple admissions, from both the veterinarian and most of the trainers that have been implicated as well,” Lazarus said. “We also have treatment records and billing records that were ultimately requested and provided, so there is a lot of evidence in this case.”

Under HISA’s rules, horses treated with intra-articular injections are not permitted to race within 14 days or perform a workout within seven days of the treatment.

“The rules around intra-articular injections have been in place for a long time,” Lazarus said. “Most of these violations would have also been violations under the previous Pennsylvania state racing commission rules. The HISA stand-down times were increased, but a lot of the violations in this case were actually given, two, three, four days before a race…

“So these are not new rules,” Lazarus said. “It’s well-accepted, I believe, within the horse racing community that intra-articular injections too close to a training activity or a race are detrimental to horse welfare. They mask pain, and they frequently don’t allow the [regulatory] veterinarian to properly inspect whether the horse is race-ready. And they clearly give the trainer an advantage by helping, essentially, the horse manage pain.”

Bonnell’s license to practice veterinary medicine remains active at the state level in Pennsylvania. In fact, it was renewed Nov. 20, 2024, shortly after he was summarily suspended by the PSHRC.

A Pennsylvania State Board of Veterinary Medicine document from 2023 in Bonnell’s online file stated that his licenses “have not been subject to discipline by the licensing boards” in Pennsylvania; nor over the past five decades in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, or New Hampshire, where he has previously been licensed.

Bonnell’s state board record in Pennsylvania does show one “reprimand and fine” that stemmed from a 2023 consent agreement to settle allegations of him selling Ivermectin tablets (a prescription drug used to treat roundworm) to customers at Penn National without having performed examinations on their animals.