Indian female Aprana Batulla, as the 2013 Horse Illustrated profile says, moved to North America and became a member of the North America Racing Academy. She is the first Indian woman to obtain a jockey’s license in America.
On July 29, 2019, Batulla’s training license had been closed for 2.5 years. The reason was that ew Jersey Racing Commission (NJRC) investigators found 83 injectable medication vials and 36 needles in her room in Monmouth Park. As a result of the board’s 19 May 2021 meeting, she was fined $7.500.
Previously her penalty was a bit softer with 2 years of the ban and $6.500. During the session, commissioners voted unanimously for a little harder consequences. In contrast to 9 years of the ban and $18.5000 proposed in 2020, the renewed penalty seems much more surmountable.
During the session, executive director Judith Nason read from the protocol that testing revealed the seized vials contained flunixin, dexamethasone, and methocarbamol. Nason added that Batulla confessed to the affiliation of illegal substances to her. Also, she injected the vials into one horse.
NJRC chair Pamela Clyne announced the final sentence. For storing illegal vials and drugs, Batulla gets a 1.5 year ban and a $5.000 fine. For injecting a horse she gets one year of ban and a $2.500 fine. The total amount is 2.5 years of the ban and a $7.500 fine.
Aprana Batulla was a jockey between 2011 and 2013. Later she became a trainer in 2015 with a 7-13-14 record from 75 starters and earnings of $250,541. At the time of the case, she was 31.