‘Crazy,’ ‘Stupid Rule’ On Whip Use Has Jockeys Veering Away From Monmouth Park

Following this week's announcement that the Jockeys' Guild's motion to stay the New Jersey Racing Commission's regulation on the use of the riding crop in Thoroughbred racing was denied by the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division, several jockeys have announced their plans to avoid racing at Monmouth Park this summer.

Jockeys' Guild sought the stay of enforcement pending a decision on its appeal, which has not yet been decided. Beginning in 2021, jockeys at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, NJ will not be allowed to use the whip “except for reasons of safety.”

“Under these conditions, no, I don't think I can ride at Monmouth Park,” Joe Bravo, 13-time leading rider at Monmouth, told the Thoroughbred Daily News. “They didn't even speak to any of the New Jersey jockeys and ask what are your thoughts?” Bravo said. “In today's era, yes, there should be riding crop restrictions. I understand that. They have them at Delaware, at Tampa and in California. We have no problem with that. But to take the whip away completely away…That's crazy. Show me another county in the world with major racing that has these conditions.”

Other jockeys added their opinions on Twitter.

The Monmouth Park meet is scheduled to begin on May 28, 2021.

Read more at the Thoroughbred Daily News.

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Jockeys Say They’ll Skip Monmouth Over Whip Rules

With a court having denied a motion to stay a New Jersey Racing Commission (NJRC) regulation banning the use of the whip, racing at Monmouth is set to get underway under the tightest rules in the nation regarding the crop. But whips may not be the only thing missing on opening day May 28.

At least three jockeys have said that, because of the whip ban, they will not ride at Monmouth this year. Jockeys across the country have come out against whip restrictions, saying that the crop is a necessary tool and that banning them outright would lead to dangerous conditions.

“Under these conditions, no, I don't think I can ride at Monmouth Park,” said Joe Bravo, who has been leading rider at Monmouth 13 times.

Jockeys Antonio Gallardo and Daniel Centeno took to Twitter to announce their decision to not ride at Monmouth this year.

“I have to say something important: I left Presque Isle a few years ago and went to Monmouth, I did very well,” Gallardo tweeted. “It's my second home after Tampa and it's so sad to change my plans just because they put a stupid rule into practice so I can't go back.”

Centento Tweeted: “I was so excited to go back to Monmouth but with that rule they put I can't GO!!! I have to change my plans!!!”

Bravo was third in the standings for the main Monmouth meet last year and Gallardo was fourth. Centeno has not ridden regularly at Monmouth since 2015.

Veteran rider Chris DeCarlo also took to Twitter to express his opinion, but did not say if he intended to ride at Monmouth this year or not.

“NJRC really trying to kill Horse Racing,” he wrote. “Jockeys can't fight and do this alone. Everyone that has a vested interest in racing in NJ should step up to the plate and voice their concern to get this overturned.”

In September, the New Jersey Racing Commission issued rules governing the use of the whip. To take effect with the opening of the 2021 Monmouth meet, jockeys will not be allowed to use their whip unless it is needed for safety reasons. The Jockeys' Guild took the issue to court, but it was announced earlier this week that their request for a stay had been turned down. The Guild plans to appeal that decision, but an appeal is not expected to be heard prior to opening day at Monmouth.

“When they first proposed this last year, I just couldn't fathom having races without any way to encourage the horse” Bravo said. “It passed and we appealed. I kept thinking there is no way they could put this in place. Monday, they denied our appeal. We're facing the fact that in a couple of weeks there is going to be an opening day at Monmouth Park and they will be expecting us to ride under these conditions.”

When announcing the rule change, the commission issued a statement saying the new rule was necessary because of public perception issues.

“The prohibition of the use of riding crops, except when necessary for the safety of horse or rider, will be perceived in a positive light by the general public,” said the statement. “The proposed repeal and new rules are of the utmost importance in adapting the industry to avoid the currently negative public perception of whipping a horse.”

Bravo said that after the court's decision was announced, the Board held a conference call in which the New Jersey riders were given an update.

“I'll put it this way, no one on that call said they were willing to ride there under these conditions,” Bravo said.

Bravo voiced a common theme among the Monmouth riders, that the NJRC took these measures without bothering to consult with the Guild or any of the local riders.

“They didn't even speak to any of the New Jersey jockeys and ask what are your thoughts?” Bravo said. “In today's era, yes, there should be riding crop restrictions. I understand that. They have them at Delaware, at Tampa and in California. We have no problem with that. But to take the whip away completely away…that's crazy. Show me another country in the world with major racing that has these conditions.”

Bravo did not say where he intended to ride this summer, but one option would be Gulfstream Park, where he is currently riding.

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Maker Records Another Claiming Success With Last Judgment In Challenger

Trainer Michael Maker has a history of turning mid- to high-priced claiming acquisitions into graded stakes winners and Last Judgment is just the latest to join that roll of success stories.  The 5-year-old gelding by Congrats, claimed for $62,500 last October at Belmont Park, registered a 2 3/4-length wire-to-wire victory in Saturday's Grade 3 Challenger Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs, the first of four graded stakes at the Oldsmar, Fla., track culminating with the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby.

Ridden by Daniel Centeno, Last Judgment was never headed, setting fractions of :23.29, :47.41, 1:11.37 and 1:35.62 en route to a final clocking of 1:41.98 for 1 1/16 miles on a fast track.

Last Judgment paid $4.80 as the 7-5 co-favorite in the field of five older runners. Modernist finished second, with the other 7-5 co-favorite, War Stopper,  1 3/4 lengths behind in third. War Stopper was followed across the finish by Letmeno  and Jungle Fighter.

“It looked like he should be forwardly placed and that's how the race was run,” said Maker. “He seemed to be well within himself the whole way. He got into a nice rhythm and kept it going. We tried to chase Knicks Go in the Pegasus. I'll try to spot him more appropriately the rest of the year.”

Last Judgment won one of three starts since Maker haltered him for Michael Dubb, Steve Hornstock, Bethlehem Stables and Nice Guys Stables but was coming off a 12 3/4-length drubbing at the hands of Knicks Go as a 41-1 outsider in the Pegasus. He raced second behind the frontrunning winner that day before tiring in the stretch.

“Mike's instructions were to take the lead and he broke really sharp and made an easy lead all the way to the wire,” said Centeno. “(Letmeno) got a little close to me past the half-mile pole, but my horse grabbed the bit again and I knew I had plenty of horse left. It looks like he can run all day. It's nice when you get a lead like that and the horse is enjoying being out there all by himself.”

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Favorite Smiley Sobotka Likes The Distance, But Sam Davis Foes Carry High Hopes On Derby Trail

An all-star cast of jockeys and trainers will take a backseat to 12 talented but inexperienced 3-year-olds Saturday in the 41st running of the Grade 3, $250,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes, the first of two “Road to the Kentucky Derby” points races at Tampa Bay Downs.

The Sam F. Davis is one of four stakes on a 12-race Festival Preview Day 41 Presented by Lambholm South card set to begin at 11:50 a.m. Scheduled as the 11th race, it will be preceded (in order) by the Grade 3, $175,000 Tampa Bay Stakes, for horses 4-years-old-and-upward at a mile-and-a-sixteenth on the turf course; the $150,000 Suncoast Stakes for 3-year-old fillies, at a mile-and-40-yards on the main track; and the Grade 3, $175,000 Lambholm South Endeavour Stakes, for older fillies and mares at a mile-and-a-sixteenth on the turf.

Approximate post time for the Sam F. Davis is 5:02 p.m. There is a carryover pool of $9,057.70 into the Super High-5 wager in the first race.

The Albaugh Family Stables, LLC-owned colt Smiley Sobotka has been established as the 3-1 morning-line favorite for the Sam F. Davis, run at a distance of a mile-and-a-sixteenth on the main track. Trained by Dale Romans, Smiley Sobotka will be ridden by Daniel Centeno while breaking from the No. 5 post position.

Smiley Sobotka won at the Sam F. Davis distance when he broke his maiden in October at Keeneland. He finished second at the same distance in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes on Nov. 28 at Churchill Downs.

The Sam F. Davis awards points on a 10-4-2-1 scale to the first four finishers toward qualifying for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve on May 1 at Churchill Downs.

Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott and future Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher each have two horses entered in the Sam F. Davis. Mott's runners are breeder-owner Michael Shanley's colt Nova Rags, who won the 7-furlong Pasco Stakes here on Jan. 16, and Frank Fletcher Racing Operations' colt Candy Man Rocket, an eye-popping maiden special weight winner on Jan. 9 at Gulfstream Park.

Nova Rags will again be ridden by Samy Camacho. Junior Alvarado is the pilot on Candy Man Rocket.

Pletcher, who has won the Sam F. Davis a record six times (no other trainer has won it more than twice), will counter with Known Agenda, a St. Elias Stables-owned homebred who finished third on Dec. 5 in the Grade 2 Remsen Stakes at Aqueduct in his most recent start, and Millean, a Jan. 10 maiden claiming winner at Gulfstream Park owned by Donegal Racing.

Velazquez will ride Known Agenda. Roberto Alvarado, Jr., has been named on Millean.

Smiley Sobotka and seven others will vie to keep the Mott and Pletcher-trained sophomores from the winner's circle, but Mott suggested Friday the biggest surprise in the Sam F. Davis would be a result that winds up surprising hardly anyone.

The race appears that wide-open.

“Both of our horses have been training well, and we're anxiously awaiting the outcome to see if we have horses good enough to go on and come back for the (Grade 2 Lambholm South) Tampa Bay Derby (on March 6),” Mott said today from his south Florida base. “It's a big test for both horses, and we have no great expectations. Candy Man Rocket hasn't been beyond 6 ½ furlongs and Nova Rags hasn't raced around two turns yet, so they need to be tested to find out how far they want to go.”

At this early stage, there are no true standouts entering the race. The only stakes winner in the field other than Nova Rags is Florida-bred gelding Boca Boy, who captured the restricted Florida Thoroughbred Breeders' and Owners' Association Florida Sire In Reality Stakes on Sept. 26 at Gulfstream. Antonio Gallardo rides Boca Boy.

Mott, who has also entered 4-year-old filly New York Girl in the Lambholm South Endeavour and Florida-bred Jade Empress in the Suncoast, hopes having won the Pasco here will be an extra advantage for Nova Rags.

“It's a safe racetrack and it's a very challenging racetrack,” Mott said. “It's deep and tiring, and you see some horses that don't run well on it. So with Nova Rags, it's a good thing he has that race (the Pasco) over the surface.”

Hidden Stash, who won his last two races as a 2-year-old, both around two turns, will break from the No. 1 post under jockey Hector Diaz, Jr. Among the others, trainer Patrick Biancone, who won last year's Sam F. Davis with Sole Volante, will attempt a repeat with Lucky Law, and George “Rusty” Arnold, II takes a shot with Runway Magic, to be ridden by Leparoux.

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