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Hollie Doyle Named Sportswoman of the Year

Jockey Hollie Doyle has been named The Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year for 2020. Doyle holds the record for most winners in a calendar year by a female jockey, and booted home her first Group 1 winner when Glen Shiel (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) won the G1 British Champions Sprint S. in October. The reinswoman was also successful at Royal Ascot with Scarlet Dragon (GB) (Sir Percy {GB}) earlier this year.

“I am blown away to have won the Sunday Times Sportswoman of The Year award,” said Doyle. “It’s been an unusual year in so many ways and I feel very grateful to have been able to do what I love day in, day out.

“Seeing my name compared to the previous winners of the award with the likes of Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill and Dame Kelly Holmes, is pretty crazy and very humbling.”

The British Horseracing Authority’s chair Annamarie Phelps paid tribute to Doyle, and said, “I am delighted that Hollie’s record-breaking success in her jockey career has been recognised at a national level. This accolade is richly and truly deserved and she joins a stellar list of past winners of this award.

“In one of the few sports where men and women compete on equal terms, Hollie is living proof of the fact that female jockeys can be more than a match for the men. However, this is about far more than just the boundaries Hollie has broken as a female athlete. Through her dedication, professionalism, bravery, focus, athletic ability and level-headedness Hollie sets the template that all young sports people should aspire to, regardless of sport or gender.”

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Jockey Of The Week: Tyler Gaffalione Wins 15 Races At Churchill Downs

After leading the nation in wins and total purse money for the week, Tyler Gaffalione was named Jockey of the Week for Nov. 16 through Nov. 22. The award, which is voted on by a panel of racing experts, is for jockeys who are members of the Jockeys' Guild, the organization which represents more than 950 active riders in the United States as well as retired and permanently disabled jockeys.

Beginning the week at Churchill Downs on Wednesday, Tyler Gaffalione won three races, one each for trainers Mike Maker, Chad Brown and Eddie Kenneally. He picked up three more wins on Thursday with two for Mike Maker and one for David Vance. On Friday, Gaffalione continued his winning ways with four more wins, one each for trainers Bernie Flint, Mike Maker, Bret Calhoun and James DiVito. Saturday saw Gaffalione head to the winner's circle four times with two wins for Mike Maker and one each for Phil Sims and Mark Casse. In the final card of the week on Sunday, he posted one win for Chad Brown.

In addition to a 50 percent win rate for the week, Gaffalione hit the board with 76 percent of his mounts and $463,611 in total purses to lead all jockeys.

He out-polled fellow jockeys, Joe Bravo who had two stakes wins at Gulfstream Park West, Abel Cedillo who won the Cary Grant Stakes at Del Mar, Marcelino Pedroza with two stakes wins at Indiana Grand and Joel Rosario who won the New York Stallion Series Stakes at Aqueduct aboard Funny Guy.

Gaffalione has won 14 graded stakes so far this year including the Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational aboard Zulu Alpha. He was the Eclipse Award winning Apprentice in 2015.

Leading the jockey standings at the Churchill Downs Fall Meet with 32 wins, seven ahead of Ricardo Santana, Jr., Tyler will head to Gulfstream Park after Churchill Downs closes on Sunday.

The post Jockey Of The Week: Tyler Gaffalione Wins 15 Races At Churchill Downs appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Dominguez: Whip Rules ‘Not Fair To The Rider, The Athletes Out On The Track’

Hall of Fame jockey Ramón Dominguez shared his opinions on the new whip rules in California and New Jersey with horseracing.net this week. The three-time Eclipse Award winner is concerned with both rider safety and wagering integrity.

In California, jockeys may only use the whip in an underhanded fashion and only six times during the running of a race. Dominguez worries that this does not allow riders to maintain a safe environment out on the track.

“Personally, my biggest worry is what happens when the need for a rider to take corrective action to protect himself, as well as the animal, arrives,” Dominguez told J.N. Campbell. “That is not visible to the observer. I think knowing that the jockey may have the predicament of doing what is right 'safety wise,' but possibly faces penalties is uncompromising. Should they take the chance to be proactive or run the risk that may cause a safety problem? That's not fair to the rider, the athletes out on the track or the integrity and future of the sport.”

Like other jockeys, both active and retired, Dominguez is also concerned about racing integrity. New Jersey has implemented the strictest whip rules in the country, with jockeys only allowed to use the whip for safety, not to achieve a better placing.

“As a jockey, other than making sure you keep your mount, yourself, other horses, and fellow riders safe, your main job is to help your horse reach its maximum placing,” Dominguez argued. “In order to do so, while riding a horse with a laid-back demeanor, that wants to only put forth effort according to what's being asked of him, you may sense the need to use the crop. This is a way to incentivize him. Sometimes you have to do this as early as the last three-eighths of a mile. If he is responding well to it, by the time you reach the last sixteenth, your main tool to ensure your horse reaches its maximum placing has been taken away from you. And with that, your likely opportunity to win; this applies not only to you, but to your connections, and equally important, the person who placed a bet on your horse.”

Javier Castellano Undergoing Minor Surgery On Right Hip, To Return In January

Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano will undergo a minor surgery on his right hip on Monday, Nov. 16, reports the Daily Racing Form. Dr. Bryan T. Kelly will perform the arthroscopic procedure to clean up “debris” at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan.

“He said you don't want to wait two or three years to do it, because then there could be damage in your hip,” Castellano told drf.com. “I don't have much going on in November, December so I'll take off part of November and December and come back in January like I always do.”

Castellano said he hopes to have several rides back in mid-January before the Pegasus World Cup card on Jan. 23 at Gulfstream Park.