A father and son accused of trying to fix races by injecting harness horses with substances designed to deaden pain or improve performance pleaded guilty Wednesday to felony charges. William Barrack, 68, and his son, Keith, 43, pleaded guilty to one count each of interference with a domestic animal in Saratoga County Court, district attorney James A. Murphy III said.
The men originally were indicted on two felony counts of first-degree scheming to defraud and fifth-degree conspiracy, among other misdemeanor charges. A deal was reached and the men pleaded guilty to the most serious charges for injecting Disco Force A with cobra snake venom on Oct. 26, 2006, and Epogen on Nov. 9, 2006, Murphy said. The men earned $900 on the Oct. 26 race, Murphy said.The investigation began in September at Saratoga Gaming and Raceway following a tip from people at the track that harness horses were being injected. The indictments also charged the Barracks with wrongly giving Patsy B Happy the anti-bleeding drug Lasix on Nov. 3, 2006. They earned $540 in that race. The men will be sentenced Aug. 31. Murphy said it was likely the men would receive probation, but a judge will make that determination. The Barracks' horse racing licenses are currently suspended, and a hearing will determine whether they will be permanently revoked. Marc Mosher, 38, Robert Moscone, 60, and Carl Forrester, 31, also face charges in the case. It was unclear late Wednesday when their trials will take place. Each was charged with two counts of fifth-degree conspiracy, a misdemeanor.
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