'Cheating' jockey is caught in finish line photo: Winning rider who 'used secret device to give horse painful electric shocks' exposed
- Roman Chapa, 43, of Big Spring, Texas, was photographed with what officials say is a prohibited electric device used to shock the horse
- The jockey claimed the image was Photoshopped and claimed 'someone was trying to frame him'
- Chapa was suspended and fined in 1994 as an apprentice for using a nail
- He was also suspended in 2007 for using an electric device
- A Peta investigation caught a trainer talking about Chapa's use of an electric device in 2014
- Chapa also faces a felony charge and a warrant was issued for his arrest on Tuesday, as of Thursday morning he remained at large
A veteran jockey with a track record of cheating accusations was photographed with what officials say was an electric device during a win in Texas, though he claims 'someone was trying to frame him.'
Roman Chapa, 43, of Big Spring has been charged with unlawful influence on racing after being allegedly caught in the act of using the device in a photo taken near the finish line.
The jockey was running in fifth place in the $50,000 Richard King Stakes at Sam Houston Race Park on January 17 when his mount, Quiet Acceleration, pressed to the front of the pack and won by half a length.
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Photo finish: The photo (magnified to show detail) shot by Jack Coady, shows what officials say is jockey Roman Chapa, 43, using a banned device in a Texas race
Shocking: The device, which officials say is similar to the one pictured, is designed to deliver a shock to the horse in order to cause it to accelerate
Track photographer Jack Coady snapped a photo of Chapa just before the finish of the $50,000 race, which Quiet Acceleration had entered at 10-to-1 odds.
According to the Paulick Report, the photo accompanied a write-up on the track's website about the day's races.
The day after the race, according to a probable cause complaint, Chapa contacted Coady, telling him to take the photo down from the website because 'it was a bad picture.'
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After being confronted by Texas Department of Public Safety investigator Jeff Green, Chapa first denied having seen the photo, then claimed it was 'photo-shopped and someone was trying to frame him,' the complaint stated.
Two days after the race, Texas Racing Commission stewards suspended Chapa, pending an investigation and hearing.
ESPN reports that Chapa faces a felony charge and that a warrant was issued for his arrest on Tuesday, but authorities have so far been unable to locate him.
Chapa was running in fifth place in the Richard King Stakes at Sam Houston Race Park on January 17 when his mount, Quiet Acceleration, pressed to the front of the pack and won by half a length
Chapa, left, has a checkered past including in 1994, right, when he was sanctioned by Texas officials for using a nail to spur his horse, Silver Sixes, at a qualifying race at the Gillespie County Fair
Big win: Quiet Acceleration had entered the $50,000 race at odds of 10-to-1
Chapa's bail was set at $10,000 and he remained at large as of Thursday morning.
In addition to the felony charge, Chapa faces the probability that the Texas Racing Commission will take way his license to race.
He has a checkered history as a jockey and has been suspended twice before for buzzing horses.
Chapa was sanctioned by Texas officials in 1994 for using a nail to spur his horse, Silver Sixes, at a qualifying race at the Gillespie County Fair. He was suspended from racing for nine months and fined $2,500, though at the time he was still an apprentice.
New Mexico racing officials suspended him for five years after he was reportedly caught using an electrical device back in 2007.
Training ground: The horse's trainer is Dan Pish, who is based at these stables on the outskirts of San Antonio, Texas
Chapa was also suspected of using a prohibited device after a Peta investigation in 2014 caught assistant trainer Scott Blasi on tape talking about the jockey using an electric buzzer.
'That silly-a-- Roman Chapa put it in his mouth in New Mexico,' Blasi was heard saying to jockey Gary Stevens and trainer D. Wayne Lukas.
'They came in to shake him down, he stuck it in his mouth, then he spit it out in his wash bucket,' Blasi added.
Chapa also received a sentence of 10 days in 2002 for a plea deal on cruelty to animals charges, after police said Chapa 'torture[d] an animal, namely a dog, by beating it with a strap'.
Quiet Acceleration, a bay, was born in 2009 and is trained by its owner, Dan Pish, at his stables just outside San Antonio, Texas.
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