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NY Amends Licensing Requirements for Jockey Agents

The New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) on Monday unanimously voted to change the licensing procedure for jockey agents by removing the long-standing requirement for an applicant to have been previously licensed as an exercise rider, jockey, assistant trainer or trainer for at least one year.

The change now allows the stewards to determine whether an applicant is qualified based on experience, background and knowledge.

TDN first reported on this restrictive practice in 2020, describing the then-current version of the rule as “arbitrary, insular and protectionist, ensuring that the path of many bright young people trying to get into the sport will be blocked, and that only insiders can play.”

The NYSGC also unanimously approved a second rule change that eliminates the need for jockeys to be weighed with muzzles, martingales and breastplates. Florida, Kentucky, California, and other states had long ago dropped weighing requirements related to that type of equipment.

A voided claim adjudication from the recent Saratoga Race Course meet was also on the Oct. 3 agenda.

Commissioner Peter Moschetti Jr. had been designated by the NYSGC to decide the matter and affirmed that the Aug. 24 decision by the Saratoga stewards to void the $25,000 claim of Lil Commissioner (Field Commission) from the eighth race would be upheld.

The appeal to try and get the claim to stand was brought by Lil Commissioner's then-owners, Sanford Goldfarb and Alan Khan (trainer Philip Antonacci). Lil Commissioner ran fifth, beaten 11 1/4 lengths that day. Neither the testimony at Monday's commission meeting nor the Equibase chart for the race state which owner and trainer had dropped the claim that was voided.

Executive director Robert Williams read into the record that Moschetti determined that the stewards had voided the claim “after personnel at the test barn dismissed Lil Commissioner in the mistaken belief that the horse had not been claimed. Commissioner Moschetti determined that although the appellants were not at fault, the stewards did not abuse their discretion in voiding the claim, since the horse had left the test barn before being examined by a state veterinarian as required…and had been briefly out of the presence of commission officials…”

Although it was not discussed at Monday's meeting, Lil Commissioner subsequently was entered and claimed for $16,000 at Aqueduct Racetrack Sept. 17. He was eased to last in that race, beaten 48 1/2 lengths. Trainer Antonio Arriaga dropped the claim slip on behalf of owner The Players Group.

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Report: Manny Franco, Angel Cordero Part Ways

Jockey Manny Franco and agent Angel Cordero, Jr. have parted ways, reports the Thoroughbred Daily News.

“There's no problem,” Cordero, 79, told the TDN. “He just wants to do better. I don't blame him. Everybody wants to be No. 1.”

The New York-based Franco won 252 and 221 races in 2018 and 2019, respectively, but his numbers dropped to 140 in 2020 (when New York racing was shut down for several months due to the pandemic) and 184 in 2021.

Cordero, himself a Hall of Fame rider, still represents apprentice rider Jose Gomez. The agent split with Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez in 2020.

Desormeaux Back ‘In The Old Zone,’ Agent Says

Tony Matos has been a jockey agent for most of his 77 years. He's been the representative for the winning riders in the Kentucky Derby on six occasions – Angel Cordero (Cannonade, 1974 and Bold Forbes, 1976), Laffit Pincay (Swale, 1984), Kent Desormeaux (Real Quiet, 1998 and Fusaichi Pegasus, 2000), and Victor Espinoza (War Emblem, 2002).

And Matos has this to say about Desormeaux, with whom he was reunited earlier this year: “He's riding just as well, maybe better, than he was when I had him and he won the two Kentucky Derbies.”

When athletes are having great success, the phrase “In the zone” is often applied. Desormeaux, 51, has won eight races in five days the most recent being the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby. He's “In the old zone” – in terms of age and with the same skill he displayed decades earlier en route to the Hall of Fame.

“Even though he's 51, he works out and keeps himself fit,” Matos said. “When I took him back (from a suspension incurred here last year), I could see that his attitude was good and he's just kept getting better.”

The post Desormeaux Back ‘In The Old Zone,’ Agent Says appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Trevor McCarthy Returns To New York With Joe Migliore As Agent

Jockey Trevor McCarthy will make his return to New York for the Aqueduct meet next Thursday, reports the Daily Racing Form, having spent the spring and summer in Southern California. Joe Migliore, a bloodstock agent and the son of former jockey Richard Migliore, will represent McCarthy in his return.

“Tremendously excited about how his return has been received, lots of people looking for us in the mornings, and we've been very active in the mornings,” Migliore told DRF. “Excited to build upon the success he had last year before going to California and think that we'll be able to repeat if not expand that success this winter and beyond.”

McCarthy, who left New York partly because of a wagering rule that requires married jockeys to be coupled in the wagering, went 9-for-156 in Southern California, and missed the last 11 weeks due to an ankle surgery. McCarthy now plans to ride year-round in New York, and he and his wife, jockey Katie Davis, are expecting their first child in December.