Mark Gerard (6 October 1934 – 21 June 2011) was an American equine veterinarian. He was born in Brooklyn,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, and graduated from Cornell University. As a student, he worked as an exercise rider for, among others,

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trainer

James E. Fitzsimmons James Edward "Sunny Jim" Fitzsimmons (July 23, 1874 – March 11, 1966) was a Thoroughbred racehorse trainer. Early life Born in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn in 1874, Fitzsimmons began his career in 1885 working at a racetrack as a stable boy. After ...

. Gerard started practice as a veterinarian for racehorses, some highly successful ones, such as Canonero II, who won the

Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-year ...

; he also cared for Triple Crown winner Secretariat. In 1977, he masterminded a highly publicized scandal involving horse switching. He had imported two horses from Uruguay, a champion named Cinzano, and the much cheaper Lebon. After Lebon had under-performed in his earlier races, Gerard ran Cinzano under Lebon's name. Entered as "Lebon", Cinzano subsequently won as a 57-1 outsider, at New York's

Belmont Park Belmont Park is a major thoroughbred horse racing facility in the northeastern United States, located in Elmont, New York, just east of the New York City limits. It was opened on May 4, 1905. It is operated by the non-profit New York Racin ...

, and Gerard collected a $77,920 winning on a bet. Later, a Uruguayan journalist recognized the horse as Cinzano from a newspaper photo, and an investigation was started. The story was broken in the States on October 21, 1977, by ''News World''s racing editor, Daniel Keating in New York. When John Piesen of the ''New York Post'' told Keating that he had broken a story on October 23, Keating told him he broke it two days ago. Keating also asked Rupert Murdoch to cease claiming the Post had broken the story. Nothing happened. In September 1978, Gerard, represented by attorney F. Lee Bailey, testified that Lebon had "died in an accident at Gerard's New York farm the day he and Cinzano arrived from Uruguay", and his wife testified that she had switched horses without his knowledge. Gerard was convicted of fraud, then fined $1,000 and sentenced to one year in prison, which was shortened on appeal by four months, otherwise retaining his ill-gotten gains.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerard, Mark 1934 births 2011 deaths American veterinarians Male veterinarians People from Brooklyn Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine alumni