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Crotchett To Make Race Riding Debut At Oaklawn After Galloping For Lukas, Catalano

Kaylee Crotchett, an exercise rider at Oaklawn for Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, said Sunday morning that she plans to make her riding debut early in the 2021 meeting that is scheduled to begin Jan. 22.

Crotchett, 22, was raised in Henryville, Ind., about 25 miles north of Churchill Downs, and has been galloping horses for approximately 5 ½ years.

“I'm really excited right now,” Crotchett said. “I'm sure the day of the race, my adrenaline will get to me, my nerves, but this is something I've worked so hard for.”

Crotchett said her first scheduled mount is Mr. Peterkin, a 3-year-old Ghostzapper colt who is winless in six career starts for Lukas. Mr. Peterkin, under Crotchett, worked a half-mile in :53.20 over a fast track Sunday morning in advance of his 2021 debut.

Crotchett said she grew up trail riding and began galloping horses at 16, initially working at a small training center in Indiana before moving to Churchill Downs to work as an exercise rider for trainer Buff Bradley. She spent approximately a year as an exercise rider for Lukas before going to work as an exercise rider for trainer Wayne Catalano early in the 2020 Oaklawn meeting. Crotchett said she reunited with Lukas in September at Churchill Downs.

“Kaylee's ready to ride,” Lukas said Sunday morning. “For two years now, I've been working on the gate with her and she's getting away real well. She's (100) pounds. That helps. She sits a horse beautifully. Again, it will get down to those girls that are light like that, finishing. I told her to get on that mechanical exerciser and get that finish, get strong. I'm going to put her on a couple and I expect her to do well.”

Crotchett said she had hoped to make her riding debut last year, specifically in early May at the end of Oaklawn meeting, but racing's uncertain landscape because of COVID-19 contributed to delaying her debut.

“Things have just been tough with the pandemic and everything, so I just took a step back,” Crotchett said. “I came back and worked for Wayne, and he said he was going to help me. I just kind of sat still and came back here. Hopefully, things will get going and I'll have a good meet.”

Crotchett said she will not have an agent to begin her riding career.

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Jockeys And Jeans: Stallion Season Auction Benefitting PDJF Kicks Off Jan. 29

Jockeys and Jeans will have a new slant for its sixth annual Great American Stallion Season Sale, which benefits the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund. It will be the only Stallion Season Auction that will bring together Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse Stallions in a single sale.

“For breeders and owners of both breeds, this is a true opportunity to show that persons in both the Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horse world will stand for those who can no longer stand for themselves,” said Jockeys and Jeans President, Barry Pearl.

The auction begins on Friday, Jan. 29 at 9:00 a.m. and ends Monday, Feb. 1 at 5 p.m on Starquine.com. A season preview will be available Thursday, Jan. 28. All seasons sold, their buyers and their prices are private. If you wish to donate a season or seasons and sell them privately, they are very welcome.

All seasons are non-guaranteed and donors have the option of including a breed-back the following year if the buyer's mare does not get in foal on first cover. All at Jockeys and Jeans are volunteers and every cent of the selling prices goes to the PDJF. The charity provides a monthly stipend of $1,000 to some 60 former jockeys who suffered catastrophic career ending injuries. At least 40 are either quadra or paraplegics.

“We realize this has been a difficult year for all in racing and beyond, but it is impossible to breed or own a racehorse without being optimistic,” said Pearl. “We assure you, your season donation will, for some of our fallen brothers and sisters, put a roof over their heads and pay the electric bill.”

Founded in late 2014 by five former jockeys, Jockeys and Jeans has raised over $1.5 million for jockeys who underwent career ending racing injuries. In addition to an annual Stallion Season Sale, the group organizes a yearly fundraising event at a separate track. Some 15 Hall of Fame riders are on hand to honor six of their fallen brothers and sisters who also attend.

“We realize there are more requests from worthwhile charities in racing for stallion seasons than can possibly be filled, so we thank all those who donate to ours,” said Pearl. “This sale is the only one in the entire racing industry whose entire proceeds goes to help humans; namely those Jockeys who have given so much of their lives beneath the horses we all know and love. These brave men and women are no longer riding horses but wheelchairs.”

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Jockey C.J. McMahon Charged With Attempted Murder In Louisiana

Jockey Charles J. (C.J.) McMahon, 26, was arrested by the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office in Louisiana on Jan. 2 and charged with attempted murder in the second degree, illegal use of weapons, and possession of schedule 1 drugs.

Bond of $80,000 was set for the three charges and McMahon has a scheduled court date on Tuesday, Jan. 5.

McMahon was taken into custody at 4 p.m. CT on Saturday afternoon.

Previously a leading rider at Lone Star Park and Delta Downs, McMahon is coming off his least productive year since 2014, winning 47 races from 391 mounts that earned $1,147,087. He enjoyed his best years in 2015 and '16, winning 219 races in 2015 (ranking 11th nationally) and compiling mount earnings of $4,989,625 the following year. McMahon has won three graded stakes: the 2016 Texas Mile Stakes (G3) with Great Minds and the Super Derby (G3) and Oklahoma Derby (G3) with Texas Chrome in 2016.

The son of a Quarter Horse jockey and grandson of a trainer, McMahon began riding horses at an early age and took out his apprentice jockey's license at 16, recording his first win at Evangeline Downs in 2011. Most recently he rode the Delta Downs meet in Vinson, La., where he won with two of 41 mounts, his last appearance there on Dec. 28. He was named to ride the Jan. 8 and Jan. 9 programs at Sam Houston Race Park in Texas.

McMahon has 1,046 career victories from 6,734 races for mount earnings of $22,682,202, according to Equibase.

McMahon was suspended by the Indiana Horse Racing Commission for 30 days in 2017 for reportedly testing positive for methamphetamine and THC.

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Former Jockey Bourque Dies Of Cancer At 67

Former jockey Kenneth “Chopper” Bourque passed away in Taylorsville, Ky. on Tuesday at the age of 67, according to Daily Racing Form. The cause of his death was cancer, according to Bourque's son.

Bourque was born in Erath, La. and got his start as a jockey by riding bush races around south central Louisiana. He went on to win his first official race in 1969 at Evangeline Downs. He eventually moved to the East Coast in further pursuit of his career at Charles Town, where he only remained for a short while before returning to Louisiana.

The jockey retired in 1999 with 2,467 wins and $20.4 million purse earnings, according to Jockey Club statistics. He retired to spend more time with his wife and six children.

Funeral arrangements have yet to be announced.

Paulick Report contributor Liane Crossley caught up with Bourque in late 2019, at which time he was still working as an assistant clerk of scales in the jockeys' quarters as a way to stay close to the sport he loved. You can find that profile here.