OMER’S SCRATCH: MURPHY’S LAW IN FULL BLOOM - By PETE HERRERA

Maybe all the fuss of the past year is because Bernadine Creager’s family has been in horse racing for more than 40 years, and she realizes that part of her life is drawing to a close.

Perhaps it’s because the horse in question — Omer’s Sure Shot — was named after Bernadine’s late husband.

But more than anything, says Bernadine, it’s because she thinks what happened with her horse at SunRay Park deserves a lot more answers than she’s gotten.

She wonders why no one took the fall for this one day of Murphy’s Law in full bloom -- not the veterinarian who “assumed” it was his job to inject Lasix into Omer’s Sure Shot prior to the May 7, 2010, 7-furlong race. Vet Robert Moore’s incorrect assumption was based on the fact he had previously done work for Omer’s Sure Shot’s trainer, Antonio Hernandez, at another track.

Not Hernandez, who wasn’t at SunRay on May 7 and left it up to a groom and another trainer to get the horse to the paddock. As an investigator for the New Mexico Racing Commission noted, Hernandez’s failure to comply with the trainer responsibility regulations was a contributing factor to the problems that ensued that day.

Not the individual who forged Hernandez’s initials on the Lasix log sheet.

Not any member of the stable gate crew who failed to document the arrival of Omer’s Sure Shot at SunRay Park two weeks earlier. Bernadine has a receipt showing she paid $285 to Lonnie Elam & Son Horse Transport and Elam has confirmed he hauled the horse into SunRay.

“They were all licensed personnel,” Ms. Creager told SureBet. “They’ve all told their story, but nobody has ever questioned why my horse was walked off (scratched) the track that day.”

Vince Mares, an investigator for the New Mexico Racing Commission, interviewed everyone involved in the events of that day. Excerpts from his report indicate the following:

Omer’s Sure Shot was scratched after Dr. Moore told state veterinarian Dr. Steven England that he had been unable to locate the horse at SunRay in order to administer the Lasix shot. Dr. England told Mares he and Moore contacted the stable gate and there was no paperwork to show that Ms. Creager’s horse had ever gone through the stable gate when he was hauled into SunRay.

Based on the information at the time, Dr. England notified the stewards of the circumstances and the decision was made to scratch the horse from the race with a purse of $31,000.

Moore told the investigator he assumed he was supposed to give the Lasix shot to the horse because he had previously done similar work for Hernandez at the Downs at Albuquerque. Mares’ report says the investigator asked Moore if Hernandez had asked him to give the horse the shot, and Moore replied “No.” Hernandez also told Mares he had not asked Moore to inject the horse.

Mares said Dr. England told him he later received information from Moore that Omer’s Sure Shot had received a Lasix shot from Dr. Tony Pickard, Ms. Creager’s regular vet.

However, Mares concluded in his report that “it is unknown for certain who gave the Lasix shot to … Omer’s Sure Shot” because the Lasix sheet in the barn area was not signed, and Hernandez’s initials on the sheet were forged.

Eventually, the Racing Commission exonerated Dr. Moore of any wrongdoing. No suspensions, fines or any other penalties were handed down by the Racing Commission, whose membership has since changed.

Mares said he felt his investigation turned up enough evidence to warrant some type of disciplinary action, either against Dr. Moore, Hernandez or others.

“I have no control as to what the commission feels,” Mares said. “There was no negligence whatsoever on the part of Ms. Creager.”

Ms.Creager sought compensation from the Racing Commission to the tune of nearly $185,000. That amount included the amount of money Omer’s Sure Shot would have earned had he won the race.

The Racing Commission rejected her request for compensation, and she has been told several times the case is considered closed.

Scratches are part of the horseracing business and occur every day for a variety of reasons at tracks across the country. As such, said India Hatch, the agency director for the New Mexico Racing Commission, the commission is not in a position to provide compensation every time a horse is scratched.

Omer’s Sure Shot hasn’t won a race over the past year, until Memorial Day 2011. Bernadine says her horse was at his peak going into that race at Farmington and the entire incident resulted in a lost opportunity.

At this point, all Ms. Creager has left is a story to tell — she has done that time and again to anyone that will listen — and the hope that something good has come of it.

“I would not want this to happen to anyone else,” Bernadine wrote in one of her many letters to the Racing Commission. “Will there be checks and balances for equitable races for everyone from the results of this scratch?”

And Bernadine, grudgingly perhaps, acknowledges it may be time to move on.

“I am just about done with this part of my life maybe,” says the 81-year-old horse owner.