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Gabriel Saez Given Exemption From Indiana Rule; Will Be Permitted To Ride In Stakes During 30-Day Suspension

Jockey Gabriel Saez, currently serving a 30-day suspension for what Indiana Horse Racing Commission stewards said was “extreme carelessness” in a June 17 race at Indiana Grand, has been given an exemption to ride in Saturday's Grade 2 Blue Grass Stakes and other stakes races outside of Indiana.

The exemption would appear to be a violation of Indiana Horse Racing Commission rules stating that suspended jockeys may compete in designated races (stakes) “in the event a penalty for a riding violation is 10 days or less.”

However, Indiana Horse Racing Commission steward Dan Fick told the Paulick Report the commission's executive director has the authority to waive the rule and did so, permitting Saez to ride in specific designated races outside of Indiana.

The original ruling, dated June 18, was amended on July 2, stating: “Gabriel Saez, having reached a tentative agreement with the Commission Staff, may run in stakes races outside the state of Indiana while awaiting final approval of the settlement agreement by the Commission. Mr. Saez has agreed to add one day to the period of his suspension for each day that he participates in a stakes race. At this time, Mr. Saez has indicated to the commission that he wishes to participate in the following: The Met Mile (7/4/2020) and the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (7/11/20210). Per the settlement agreement, the term of Mr. Saez's suspension is extended by two days to include July 22 and July 23, 2020.”

Section 71IAC7.5-7-5 “Designated Races” of the Indiana Administrative Code states: “In the event a penalty for a riding violation is 10 days or less, the jockey may compete in a designated race or races provided the jockey must be named at the time of entry. … For the purpose of this section, a designated race shall mean any stakes, futurity, or futurity trial in any state.”

According to the June 18 ruling, stewards found that Saez “did carelessly allow his mount Justtequilatalkin to alter course into the path of another horse without sufficient clearance, setting off a chain reaction in which the riders of three other horses were unseated from their mounts and resulting in Justtequilatalkin being disqualified from first place and placed last.”

The original suspension called for Saez to serve the 30 days from June 22 through July 21, inclusive.

Indiana Horse Racing Commission executive director Deena Pitman, who waived the rule, did not respond to a message from the Paulick Report.

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Days After Major Victory In Stephen Foster, Mena Hits, 2,000-Win Milestone

Jockey Miguel Mena won his 2,000th career victory in Friday's fifth race on the second day of the RUNHAPPY Summer Meet at Ellis Park in Henderson, Ky., going wire to wire on Michael Langford's 3-year-old Substantial in the maiden race on turf.

Active on social media, Mena said he learned from Twitter that he was close to the milestone. Mena achieved win 1,998 in high-profile fashion by taking Churchill Downs' Grade 2 Stephen Foster on leading older horse Tom's d'Etat. No. 1,999 came on Ellis' opening card.

“A lot of folks were posting how I was two away, three away and I was one away today,” said Mena, Ellis Park's 2006 riding champion. “I've been riding since I was 16. I came to America when I was 17 years old. Two thousand wins, a lot of hard work went into it, and it has paid off.”

The native of Peru began riding in America in 2003. Now 33, Mena has earned at least $1 million in purse earnings every year since 2005. He has won at least 100 races every year since 2006, with the exception of 2018, when he was sidelined much of the year after sustaining eight fractures to his ankle and heel in a riding mishap. Delaying his recovery was the fact that surgery wasn't possible because of the development of massive blisters that made the risk of infection too great.

But Mena came back with a vengeance last year, his $6.5 million in purses his highest in seven years. For his persistence, Mena was chosen recipient of the Fair Grounds' first Randy Romero “Pure Courage” Award.

The jockey, who won 50 races in Peru, says back then he couldn't have imagined winning 2,000 races in the United States.

“I never did,” he said. “I came with a lot of dreams. I came very hungry to work my butt off. I'm so grateful to this country. It has given me a better life, not only for me but for my family in Peru as well. I'm very thankful to America.”

Mena's 15,395 career mounts have earned purses exceeding $68.5 million. While now still in his prime, the jockey's statistics might have been even more impressive had a drinking problem at age 22 not threatened to derail his promising career. A turning point came when he married his wife, April, in 2011, the couple subsequently having daughters Naelah and Montserrat.

“We all grow up different. I appreciate the ups and downs that I've been through,” he said. “It has taught me a lot; it has made me mature. Things are going the right way. I just knock on wood to keep it that way.”

Asked about achieving 3,000 wins, Mena said, “Well, we're going to work for it. Ten more years, who knows? We'll keep on working hard.”

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Non-Racing Incident Sidelines Court With Hairline Fracture To Wrist

Jockey Jon Court, who last year became the oldest jockey to ride in the Kentucky Derby at age 58, will miss all of Ellis Park's opening weekend after sustaining a hairline fracture in his hand, said agent Steve Krajcir.

Court, a six-time Ellis riding champ and the only person to win five straight titles, rode at Indiana Grand on Tuesday. Krajcir said the jockey slipped and fell in his backyard that evening, holding out his hand to brace himself. The agent said Court will miss the rest of this holiday weekend but that he's hopeful he can be back riding at Ellis Park July 17. That's when Ellis Park resumes racing after ceding next week to Keeneland's make-up meet.

“He thought it was going to be a lot worse,” Krajcir said. “He gets hurt more without horses than with them.”

Court had shoulder surgery in 2018 after a motorcycle accident, which came two years after sustaining broken ribs while water-tubing.

“He won't sit still,” said Krajcir, who in the past has said he wants to wrap Court in bubble wrap on days he's not riding.

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Lost And Found Presented By LubriSYNHA: Hall Of Famer Santos Has Grown To Love Life Out Of The Saddle

Thirteen years after the final mount of his Hall of Fame career, life moves at a steady, if different pace for Jose Santos. In his prime, Santos was busy, winning 4,083 races including the 2003 Grade 1Kentucky Derby and G1 Preakness Stakes on Funny Cide and 2002 G1 Breeders' Cup Classic on Volponi. Additional career highlights include the 1988 Eclipse Award and 1999 George Woolf Memorial Award that honors jockeys whose “personal character earn esteem for the individual and the sport of Thoroughbred horse racing.”

The rewards came with sacrifices including time away from his older children as they grew up. But he now has plenty of time to spend with his wife Grace and their only child, 6-year-old Manuel. Their family interaction includes evening walks and playing video games.

“It is a lot of work and a lot of fun to raise a little kid,” Santos said. “I spend a lot of time with him.”

Santos balances family hours with his Monday-through-Friday job for a South Florida feed company that he once owned. The business supplies products to Palm Meadows and Palm Beach Downs training centers and to Gulfstream Park.

“What I do is mingle with people and take orders (for delivery),” he said. “I get to see a lot of my old friends. That is my favorite part. I have a lot of friends who are jockeys, exercise riders, grooms and hotwalkers. I talk to everybody. We talk about the horses, what happened the day before at the races, stuff like that. I try to watch some horses during training.”

Santos also dabbles in buying and selling Thoroughbreds and has been instrumental in importing purchases from his native Chile.

He has adjusted to a lifestyle that includes going to the races on big event days but he admits his forced retirement was once a struggle. Known for his easy-going personality and competitive nature, Santos expected to compete at least until age 50, but the plan fell apart on Feb. 1, 2007 when he suffered multiple spinal fractures in a three-horse spill at Aqueduct. He officially announced his retirement at age 46 on July 30 of that year, a week before his induction into the Hall of Fame.

“I don't miss riding anymore but the first year was tough,” he said. “Now I am good; I have accepted it.”

Santos said he mostly misses the camaraderie of the jockeys' quarters.

“That was a lot of fun,” he said. “We had competition with each other but we were like family.”

In addition to keeping in touch with those former colleagues and other jockeys, Santos has a strong connection to racing through his son Jose Jr. who is agent for Kentucky-based Declan Cannon and Miguel Mena. The younger Jose intended to follow in his father's footsteps but his size quickly stopped that idea. While attending Bellarmine University in Louisville, he gravitated back to the track.

“In a way he got lucky because he grew up too much,” the elder Santos said. “He is a very good agent. He has a very good mind and a good head on his shoulders. He is very smart and very good with people. My friends always tell me what a nice guy he is. That makes me very proud.”

As a father to a total of three sons and three daughters, Santos set an example that diligence and appreciation of others leads to success.

“Work hard and be respectful,” he said. “That will bring you to a different level and take you a long way in the end.”

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