Tag: Jockey’s Guild

Oaks-Derby Double Nets John Velazquez Jockey Of The Week Title

Winning three Grade 1s, including the world's most recognized race, lead to Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez unanimously being named Jockey of the Week for April 26 through May 2. 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.

On a spectacular weekend of racing, Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez became just the eighth jockey in history to win both the Kentucky Oaks and the Kentucky Derby in the same year. But the Grade 1 wins didn't stop there as he also won the G1 Derby City Distaff.

Velazquez's Grade 1 haul started Friday when trainer Todd Pletcher reunited Velazquez with Malathaat in the Kentucky Oaks. Off as the favorite in the field of 13, Malathaat settled in fifth position. In upper stretch, Malathaat and Search Results drew clear of their rivals and battled to the wire, with Malathaat prevailing by a neck.

“She got away from there just a bit slow, said Pletcher, “but Johnny (Velazquez) moved her up and got her in a much better position. He had to lose some ground and go wide to do it, but it was the right thing to do.”

Final time for the 1 1/8 miles was 1:48.99.

Under picture perfect skies on Saturday, trainer Bob Baffert gave Velazquez a leg up on Champion Female Sprinter, Gamine in the G1 Derby City Distaff. Velazquez took Gamine to the front and held off a late bid from Sconsin to win by 1-1/2 lengths.

“She didn't get to the break I hoped for but she bounced back really quickly and ran really easy in the early going. She showed what a champion she was and I am really proud of my filly,” said Velazquez.

Final time for the seven furlongs on a fast track was 1:21.50.

For the second year in a row, Hall of Famers Bob Baffert and John Velazquez teamed up in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby with the same result: a win in the Run for the Roses. This year, Velazquez rode the unheralded Medina Spirit, Baffert's only entry in the race. Velazquez took Medina Spirit to the lead at the start, set all the fractions and dug deep to fend off challengers, Mandaloun, Hot Rod Charlie and Essential Quality to win by a half-length in 2:01.2.

“You couldn't ask more of a horse. When you ride a horse like this who is competitive you can't ask for anything else,” said Velazquez who won the race for the fourth time.

Weekly stats for Velazquez were 17-4-2-4 for a 23.4 percent win rate and total purse earnings of $3,141,211 to lead all jockeys.

Velazquez out-polled fellow jockeys Manny Franco and Paco Lopez who tied for number of wins, and Florent Geroux and Flavien Prat who each won three stakes races.

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Evin Roman Named Jockey Of The Week For Stakes Triple At Golden Gate

As one of only three jockeys to win multiple stakes races, Evin A. Roman was named Jockey of the Week for April 19 through April 25. 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.

Riding regularly at Golden Gate Fields, Roman had mounts in seven of the eight stakes races during Gold Rush Weekend.

On Saturday's card, trainer Jonathan Wong gave a leg up to Roman on Stalking Shadow in the California Derby for 3-year-olds going a mile and one-sixteenth on Tapeta. Stalking Shadow went off at odds of 7-1 and paid $16.20 for the win stopping the clock in 1:45.22. Also on Saturday, Southern California trainer Peter Miller shipped Anyportinastorm to Golden Gate Fields for the Lost in the Fog Stakes with Roman in the irons. Roman and Anyportinastorm stalked the pacesetter Bettor Trip Nick before taking control at the quarter pole to post a 2-1/2 length win in the six furlong contest for 3-year-olds and up on Tapeta paying $12.60.

The nightcap on Sunday once again teamed Peter Miller and Evin A. Roman with the favorite None Above the Law in the Silky Sullivan Stakes. Originally scheduled for one mile on the turf, weather conditions forced it to run at one mile on Tapeta. Roman settled None Above the Law at the back of the field, made a wide sweeping run to prevail by 2-3/4 lengths over his 10 rivals in a final time of 1:36.75.

“I want to thank all of the trainers, the owners, my agent Leo (Rodriguez) for their support,” said Roman. “It was a great weekend. It felt very good to win three stakes. The horses ran very well.”

A graduate of the famous Escuela La Vocacional Hipica jockey school in Puerto Rico, Roman won the 2017 Eclipse Award as Outstanding Apprentice and is a multiple leading rider at tracks in California.

Roman's weekly stats were 23-6-4-5 for a 26% win percentage and 65.2% in-the-money percentage.

Total purse earnings were $226,400. He is currently in second place in the Golden Gate Fields standings just two behind meet leader Kyle Frey.

Roman out polled fellow jockeys Kyle Frey who also won three stakes races at Golden Gate Fields, Stewart Elliott who led all riders in wins with 10, Jose L. Ortiz who led all jockeys by purse earnings and Umberto Rispoli who won two stakes races at Santa Anita.

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‘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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Revised CHRB Whip Penalties On Target For BC, Largely With Guild’s Blessing

In an attempt to get a revised whip violations penalty scheme on the books before Del Mar hosts the Nov. 5-6 Breeders' Cup, the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) Wednesday advanced a rule amendment that mostly has the blessing of The Jockeys' Guild because it strips out a previously controversial proposal that would have docked jockeys 50% of purse earnings if they over-whipped while finishing first, second or third in graded stakes.

That purse penalization had been proposed by the CHRB in March in an attempt to disincentivize riders from disregarding the number of times and manner in which a Thoroughbred can be struck with the whip, particularly if the jockey believed the reward of winning a multi-million-dollar stakes far outweighed the cost of incurring a comparatively smaller fine or suspension.

When the Guild and other stakeholders argued last month that going after purse money was too harsh, the CHRB voted 4-3 to table the measure and revise it. The new version that the board voted 6-0 on Apr. 21 essentially is the same proposal, except with the purse penalization removed from the new language of Rule 1688.

Left intact from last month's version was an amendment to change the maximum fine of $1,000 and a minimum suspension of three days to a minimum fine of $500, or, if determined by the stewards to be an egregious or intentional violation, a larger fine, a minimum suspension of three days, or both. That is the meat of the measure that now advances to California's mandatory 45-day public comment period before it will come back to the CHRB for a final vote.

Based on testimony delivered Wednesday by Shane Gusman, an attorney representing the Jockeys' Guild, the riders aren't likely to challenge the proposal before its expected adoption.

Gusman thanked the CHRB for addressing concerns that he aired on behalf of the Guild back in March. “We certainly appreciate the clear linking of the most egregious conduct with the significant, or higher, penalties, and the elimination of the 50% purse forfeiture provision,” he said. “Those were pretty large concerns of the folks in the Guild in California.”

Gusman did say that parts of the penalty scheme do “remain concerning,” including there now being no cap on the maximum fine. He said that creates a concern that “someone could get a fine that's out of whack” in relation to the infraction, and he asked the board to monitor the wide discretion that stewards will be given once the new version of the rule gets officially enacted.

Gregory Ferraro, DVM, the CHRB's chair, reminded Gusman that jockeys always have the avenue of appealing stewards' fines to the full board if they believe they're not fair, adding that, “I think your worries there are probably not significant.”

At the March meeting, CHRB Vice Chair Oscar Gonzales had said that “this rule is [about] making sure that the upcoming Breeders' Cup goes off [more] smoothly than anything else.” He articulated a concern that the combination of two days of Grade I stakes and too weak a penalty scheme would create “a wild west type of a situation” in which jockeys openly flouted the six-strike, underhand-only, no-more-than-two-hits-in succession rule in order to cash in on a lucrative and prestigious payday.

Scott Chaney, the CHRB's executive director, noted that it is standard for the stewards to hold daily briefings with visiting riders from other parts of the country and from overseas during the Breeders' Cup week, and that this year the stewards will be tasked with making sure no rider can say he or she wasn't aware of the whipping protocols and the penalties for violation.

“I think this protects the domestic rider,” Ferraro said with respect to the Breeders' Cup. “Our concern had been that riders, particularly from foreign countries, could violate the rule, and a $500 fine and three-day suspension would be meaningless to them. This allows for considerably more punishment for egregious violations and it's increasingly fair to our domestic rider colony.”

But the Breeders' Cup is only two days a year every several years in California. Chaney, a former steward, explained how the new proposed rule will also affect everyday riding.

“The idea is that it standardizes penalties throughout the state,” Chaney said. “Based on existing language, it appears that we have sort of a disparate application among boards of stewards. And so to be more fair to jockeys, particularly in Northern California, it would create a minimum fine. It also delineates the cases in which stewards would deviate from that fine” for any outlandish abuse of the whip.

CHRB commissioner Alex Solis, a retired Hall of Fame jockey who had spoken out against the version of the rule that was floated last month, was absent from Wednesday's meeting and thus did not cast a vote.

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