FBI Sees Unusual Results in Charts : A Grand Jury in Ohio Will Hear Testimony This Week

The track came up sloppy for the ninth race at River Downs in Cincinnati last Aug. 2.

The race came up bumpy. Two horses were disqualified, including Dashing Dawn, the 4-year-old gelding who finished first by a half length.

The $3,500 claiming race may have been more than sloppy and bumpy. It is one of several thoroughbred and harness races being scrutinized in Ohio by the FBI in an investigation that started three years ago.

More than 20 people, including at least five jockeys and one trainer, have been subpoenaed to appear before a federal grand jury on Wednesday in Columbus, Ohio.

Two of the jockeys, Melinda Spickard and Antonio Costa, figured prominently in the ninth at River Downs on Aug. 2.

Spickard’s mount, Dashing Dawn, bothered another horse, Flashy Mike, and after a foul claim by Flashy Mike’s jockey and a stewards’ inquiry, Dashing Dawn was disqualified and placed sixth. Flashy Mike, who was favored in the race, finished fourth and was moved up to third by the stewards.

The disqualification of Dashing Dawn resulted in a dead heat for win between two longshots who went off at 13-1 and 14-1. They combined with Flashy Mike, who was 5-2, to form a $3,010.80 trifecta payoff.

Costa, who rode 200 winners in 1979, was aboard Raise a Keeper, an unruly 3-year-old gelding who didn’t even finish his previous race. Raise a Keeper was 46 to 1 and it looked like he deserved to be.

Costa admits that his horse bothered 7 or 8 of the 12 horses in the race. Raise a Keeper finished eighth. Appearing before a grand jury is not necessarily tantamount to guilt, and Costa already has denied to reporters that he did anything wrong.

“I know I’m clean,” Costa said. “It’s a shame I have to pay an attorney for this. Who is the FBI to say that I held a horse? The stewards are the ones who should judge that.”

The FBI has refused comment about the investigation. Spickard, after talking to Cincinnati reporters a week ago, got an unlisted telephone number.

The Times reached a jockey who used to ride with Spickard.

“Melinda says that she was ‘amazed’ that her horse (Dashing Dawn) had the lead in the stretch,” said the jockey, requesting anonymity. “He was a pig and going into the race she didn’t think he had much of a chance to win.

“She said she hit the horse with the whip right-handed and he ducked into the other horse. She said she didn’t do it on purpose, it was just something she did. Of all the races I’ve ridden against her, she was always riding for the money. I’ve never known her to pull a horse.”

P.J. (Patti) Cooksey, a regular rider on the Ohio circuit who came West to ride the longshot So Vague to an upset win in the Hollywood Prevue Stakes in 1983, tried to find some humor in the FBI investigation.

“Half of the riders in the jocks’ room aren’t smart enough to fix a race,” Cooksey said.

The FBI’s concern is the other half.