US trainer Jason Servis handed maximum four-year prison sentence for doping charges

US trainer Jason Servis was sentenced to four years in prison on Wednesday for doping horses in his care.

Servis was accused of administering adulterated and misbranded performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), including one called SGF-1000, to "virtually all of the racehorses under his control". Some of the PEDs used, manufactured or distributed were alleged to be undetectable in post-race drug tests.

In December last year, Servis, 66, pleaded guilty in connection with his role in the distribution of adulterated and misbranded PEDs intended for horses he trained, including 2020 Saudi Cup winner Maximum Security.

The four-year sentence was the maximum allowed for his charges and guilty pleas, reflecting three years for a felony and one year for a misdemeanor. 

Invited on Wednesday to address the court, Servis broke down in tears, before later saying: "No words can express how remorseful and sorry I am for the decisions I've made and the hurt I've caused my wife and others."

Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil indicated she would have imposed a harsher penalty had she been able to do so.

"In my judgment, more than a 48-month sentence might be more appropriate," she stated.

"I do accept your expression of remorse," she added. "Relatively speaking, you're not an old man. You will have a life after you get out of prison."

In court, Servis made a payment of $311,760 (£240,692/€280,760) in forfeiture and was ordered to pay $163,932 (£126,563/€147,631) in compensation and a $30,000 (£23,161/€27,017) fine.

Along with trainer Jorge Navarro, who received a five-year sentence last year, Servis was the most high-profile of more than two dozen people indicted on horse doping charges in March 2020.

Equibase records indicate Servis won 1,306 races from 5,281 starts over a career that began in 2001. His stable earned a then-best $4.9 million (£3.8m/€4.4m) in 2017 before growing in subsequent years and exploding to $11 million (£8.5m/€9.9m) in 2019.

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