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Possession Of Electrical Device After Monmouth Race Lands Tomas Mejia 10-Year Ban

The board of stewards at Monmouth Park have suspended jockey Tomas Mejia for 10 years and recommended to the New Jersey Racing Commission permanent revocation of his jockey's license. He also received a $5,000 fine.

Mejia was taken off all upcoming mounts last Friday, Sept. 10, when stewards became aware of a photograph from Monmouth's track's official photographer, posted on the Oceanport, N.J., track's Facebook page, showing a suspicious object with what appeared to have two prongs sticking out in the rider's left hand after winning the seventh race aboard Colts Neck Stables LLC's Strongerthanuknow for trainer Jorge Duarte Jr. on Sept. 3. The picture had been posted to commemorate Mejia's return from injury.

An initial stewards hearing with Mejia began on Sept. 11 and was continued on Sept. 15.

The Sept. 15 ruling, which referred to photographic evidence, states, “Upon entering the winner's circle and prior to dismounting from the horse Strongerthanuknown on Sept. 3, 2021, Tomas Mejia was in possession of a prohibited electrical device,”

Possession of a prohibited electrical device on the grounds of Monmouth Park is a violation of New Jersey Racing Commission rules NJAC 13:70-14.5 (a) (d) (e) and NJAC 13:70-1.15.

The suspension runs from Sept. 10, 2021, through and including Sept. 9, 2031. Mejia is denied access to all grounds under the jurisdiction of the New Jersey Racing Commission “for any and all purposes.” Suspensions of this nature are enforced in other racing jurisdictions.

The ruling concludes: “In addition to the penalty issued herein, the Board of Stewards refers this matter to the New Jersey Racing Commission and recommends the permanent revocation of Mr. Mejia's New Jersey Racing Commission license.”

Mejia, who turned 26 years old on Thursday, Sept. 16, is a native of Panama who was a leading apprentice in his native country after graduation from the Laffit Pincay Jr. riding academy there. He began riding in the U.S. in 2018 and compiled 110 victories from 1,101 mounts.

The ruling does not address whether Strongerthanuknow may be disqualified from his narrow win in the $57,500 allowance race, conducted over five furlongs on turf.

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Monmouth Jockey Mejia Banned 10 Years for Using Battery

The Monmouth stewards took no mercy on jockey Tomas Mejia, banning him 10 years and fining him $5,000 after they concluded he used a battery or electrical shocking device when riding Strongerthanuknow (Mineshaft) to victory in a Sept. 3 allowance.

In addition to the penalties, the stewards have referred the matter to the New Jersey Racing Commission and have recommended the permanent revocation of Mejia's license.

The ride on Strongerthanuknow was Mejia's first since a July 25 spill at Monmouth and the track photographer took a picture of him to commemorate the comeback win. The picture, which was posted on the Monmouth Facebook page, clearly shows Mejia holding an object, which includes two prongs, in his left hand that appears to be a battery. The picture was subsequently removed.

After the picture surfaced, the stewards ordered the jockey off all of his mounts last Friday. They held a hearing Wednesday and the 10-year ban was part of a ruling issued Thursday.

Thursday's ruling states: “Upon entering the winner's circle and prior to dismounting from the horse Strongerthanuknow on Sept. 3, 2021, Tomas Mejia was in possession of a prohibited electrical device.”

The stewards found that Mejia was in violation of a New Jersey Administrative Code, which reads: “No electrical, mechanical, or other appliance or device, other than the ordinary whip, shall be applied to a horse at any time, anywhere on the grounds of any licensed racetrack.”

The New Jersey Racing Commission does not allow its stewards to talk to the press.

“I don't really know about the evidence other than a photo that was going around Twitter,” said Mejia's agent, Robert Tuccille. “I wasn't at the hearing. I didn't know that any of this was happening. Tomas was always a very nice, pleasant kid and everybody liked him. As a person, the kid was truly a pleasure to work for. He was very nice and nobody ever said a bad word about him. It caught me off guard. But if it's all true, then the penalty is appropriate.”

Trained by Jorge Duarte, Jr., Strongerthanuknow won the race in question, defeating 4-5 favorite Mumbai (Street Sense) by a neck. After riding Strongerthanuknow to victory, Mejia won two more races before being removed from his mounts.

Strongerthanuknow is owned by Colts Neck Stables, and their principal, Richard Santulli, said, “We at Colts Neck Stables were dismayed to learn of this incident, and that this had occurred to one of our horses.” Santulli said that he preferred to withhold comment on the penalty.

Mejia, who turned 26 on Thursday, is a native of Panama who began his career at age 15 after attending the Laffit Pincay, Jr. Jockey Academy in his native country. His began riding in the U.S. in 2018 and has had 110 winners here. He has 19 winners at the Monmouth meet, tying him for 11th place in the standings.

“To get 100 wins to me it's beautiful, especially in this country,” Mejia said in June. “It is tough (to win) since there are a lot of very good jockeys. It is not easy to get to 100 wins, but that is my goal right now.”

He continued: “I want to be the top jockey, and a jockey who gets to 1,000 wins. My goal is that when they see me in races I want people saying, 'That's Mejia, that's my jockey.'”

In comparison to other penalties handed down to riders caught using a battery, the Mejia suspension was noteworthy for its severity. After getting caught using a battery aboard Valhol in the 1999 GI Arkansas Derby, jockey Billy Patin was suspended for five years by the Arkansas Racing Commission. In 2015, Roman Chapa was caught for the third time in his career using a battery and was suspended for five years and fined $25,000 by Texas Racing Commission stewards. Chapa was also caught after evidence surfaced from a picture taken by the Sam Houston track photographer.

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Mejia Taken Off Monmouth Park Mounts, Has Hearing Scheduled After Suspicious Photo Surfaces

Jockey Tomas Mejia was taken off his mounts this past weekend by order of the stewards at Monmouth Park and a hearing will be conducted on Sept. 15, presumably revolving around a suspicious photo that appears to show an object in the rider's left hand following a Sept. 3 comeback win at the Oceanport, N.J., track.

Mejia rode Colts Neck Stable's Strongerthanuknow to victory in the seventh race that day for trainer Jorge Duarte Jr., defeating 9-10 favorite Mumbai by a neck after rallying in deep stretch.

A photo of Mejia aboard the filly taken by the track photographer was posted on Monmouth Park's Facebook page commemorating the fact it was his first mount since being injured in a July 25 spill at Monmouth. The photo was subsequently removed after officials were alerted to what appeared to be an object in Mejia's left hand, but a copy of the photo was also circulating on Twitter.

The New Jersey Racing Commission does not permit its stewards to talk to the media and a spokesperson for the commission did not respond to a query on Sept. 10 about the reason for the Sept. 15 hearing. A track spokesperson also declined to comment. Mejia's agent, Robert Tuccille, did not respond to phone calls or voice messages from Paulick Report.

Mejia, a native of Panama and graduate of that country's Laffit Pincay Jr. jockey academy, won two additional races over the Labor Day weekend, winning with three of 10 total mounts. With 19 wins from 149 mounts at the current meet, he ranks ninth among Monmouth Park jockeys in that category. He's won a total of 110 races in the U.S. since 2018, when he arrived from Panama, where he was the leading apprentice. His most noteworthy victory came last Sept. 13 when he rode 158-1 longshot Andrez Conquist to a victory that established a new Monmouth Park record for a $2 parimutuel win payoff of $319.80.

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Francatelli Hangs On To Win Rumson At Monmouth

As impressive as it was that Francatelli was able to make the lead from the outset of Saturday's speed-filled Rumson Stakes at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J., it was even more notable the way he maintained it to the wire.

Hounded early in the five-furlong dash, then facing a threat from both the outside and the inside coming out of the final turn, Francatelli held on gamely for a neck victory over Quick Tempo to win the $100,000 feature race.

Sagamore Mischief, who pressed Francatelli throughout, was another 1¼ lengths back in third.

“He's pretty quick away from the gate for such a big horse. He gets away from there almost like a quarter horse,” said winning trainer Cal Lynch, who owns the horse in partnership with Maribeth Sanford. “He has run in some very fast races against some very fast horses and he always gives us his best effort. He's as good on the turf as he is on the dirt. Just a game horse. He fights every race for us.”

The winning time was :57.26.

Ridden by Mychel Sanchez, Francatelli beat his five rivals to the lead and then resisted all of the challenges thrown at him, including a dual-pronged assault coming out of the final turn with Quick Tempo on the outside and Foolish Ghost shooting the rail.

“(Quick Tempo) looked like he was going to roll on by coming out of the turn and (Foolish Ghost was) coming up the rail and he just won a stakes race in New York,” said Lynch. “These were some nice horses in this race but I don't expect anything less from this horse every time he runs. He is just one of those warrior types, just as game as they come. We're very pleased with the way he ran.”

A 4-year-old gelded son of City Zip-Salary Drive by Mizzen Mast, Francatelli now has six wins, four seconds, and a third from his 13 career starts. He just missed in his last start, the Grade 3 Parx Dash, and has excelled on both dirt and turf.

“He broke like a rocket,” said Sanchez. “As soon as he broke like that I just let him go because I know he likes to fight and it was five furlongs. He was really game. There were horses everywhere coming out of the turn. Like I said, he's a fighter. He likes to run. He was ready to go.

“He runs on anything, grass or dirt. He's one of those horses who is very good on either surface.”

Francatelli, who boosted his career earnings to $330,999 with the victory, returned $6.20 to win.

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