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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.”

OTTB United App Will Bring Together Retired Racehorse Buyers, Sellers

The Retired Racehorse Project and OTTB United jointly announce today the release of OTTB United, a mobile app that unites sellers, buyers, and shippers of Thoroughbred ex-racehorses and gives back to the Thoroughbred placement community. The app is designed to make the entire process, from listing a horse, to communicating between buyer and seller, to organizing shipping to a horse's new home, as easy as a few taps of a button.

The app is also designed to give back to the Thoroughbred placement community: a portion of the premium subscription fee is donated to the Retired Racehorse Project, which takes a market-based approach to Thoroughbred aftercare to drive demand for ex-racehorses; subscribers can select from a list of aftercare organizations and for-profit resellers to receive an additional contribution.

“We are so fortunate to partner with the Retired Racehorse Project,” says OTTB United founder Amy Rubin. “The organization's mission is at the center of everything we want to achieve, and helping off-the-track Thoroughbreds is our number-one goal. The Retired Racehorse Project has strengthened the Thoroughbred community, and it's our hope that the OTTB United app produced in partnership will unite that community on one platform.”

OTTB United was designed to meet the specific needs of the Thoroughbred industry and creates a network to help more ex-racehorses find good homes. Uniting sellers, buyers, and shippers on a mobile platform greatly simplifies the entire process from start to finish, and helps both buyers and sellers navigate changing rules on social media that prohibit animal sales.

“The RRP works to increase the market for Thoroughbreds after racing in the equestrian world and we are always seeking out new ways to make that process easier and more successful,” says RRP executive director Jen Roytz. “We understand and respect the reasons for social media sites to place animal sales posts under increased scrutiny and it has surely gone a long way to prevent unwanted animals to end up in the wrong hands. It has also, however, compromised the efforts of many upstanding and responsible Thoroughbred placement organizations who depend on the platforms to market their available horses to reputable homes. Through our partnership with OTTB United, we are able to offer a potential solution.”

OTTB United is free to download from Google Play and the App Store. A premium subscription is $4.99 monthly. The app is available in the US and Canada.

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Four Stakes Races Highlight Closing Week At Indiana Grand

Indiana Grand is heading into the homestretch of its abbreviated 96-day racing season in 2020. With three days of action left, four stakes will be highlighted beginning Tuesday, Nov. 17.

The 23rd running of the $75,000 Miss Indiana Stakes and the 21st running of the $75,000 Indiana Futurity are slated for races eight and nine, respectively, on the Tuesday card. Featured in the Miss Indiana Stakes is the standout freshman filly Hungarian Princess from the Kim Hammond barn. The Pataky Kid filly, owned and bred by Swifty Farms, is three for four in 2020 with two stakes wins. She will begin from post seven with Sammy Bermudez aboard at odds of 7-5.

To the outside of Hungarian Princess is Timeless Glory and Geena Lucille, second choice on the morning line. The Harry's Holiday filly, trained by Anthony Granitz, steps into stakes action for the first time off an impressive maiden-breaking victory in early October. Owned by John Wallace and Granitz, Timeless Glory starts from post eight at odds of 7-2.

In the freshman colt and gelding ranks, Dillsboro Devil is favored in the Indiana Futurity. A son of Skylord, the John Langemeier-trained gelding is two for two, scoring the win in his last start in the Crown Ambassador Stakes. Marcelino Pedroza will ride from post 11 for Langemeier's Spooky Hollow Racing Inc. at odds of 3-1.

Joining Dillsboro Devil as an early favorite in the Indiana Futurity is Hard Luck Justice from the other end of the gate in post two. The Harry's Holiday gelding, owned by Joselyn Salazar and trained by Lonnie Hines, steps up into stakes action for the first time off a maiden breaking win Nov. 1. Sammy Bermudez has the call aboard Hard Luck Justice at odds of 7-2.

The older Indiana breds will be featured on the Wednesday, Nov. 18 racing card in the 24th running of the $100,000 Frances Slocum Stakes and the 23rd running of the $100,000 To Much Coffee, set as races eight and nine, respectively.

Piedi Bianchi gets the call as the early morning line favorite in the Frances Slocum at odds of 5-2 with Fernando De La Cruz aboard for trainer Cipriano Contreras. The five-year-old Overanalyze mare is among the state's top five all-time leading female Thoroughbreds in earnings with just over $522,000 accumulated. She will begin from post 10 in the full field of 12.

Unbridled Beast, the three-year-old standout from the Randy Matthews Stable, will tackle the older horses in the To Much Coffee Stakes. The Unbridled Express gelding had won four in a row prior to his last start over a sloppy track in the Unreachable Star Stakes. Unbridled Beast begins from post nine with Indiana's all-time leading jockey Rodney Prescott aboard at odds of 5-2.

The 2020 racing season will conclude Thursday, Nov. 19 with a 12-race card. The track is currently watching the progress of the Straight Fire Six (Jackpot Pick 6) which has a carryover of more than $92,000 heading into the Tuesday, Nov. 17 racing program. There is a mandatory payout for the wager if it goes untouched until Thursday's racing program.

First post for the final week of racing is 2:05 p.m. Dates for the 2021 racing season at Indiana Grand will be announced in December.

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Accomplished Veterinarian Johnson Dies At The Age Of 81

Dr. Jerry H. Johnson, longtime veterinarian well known in academic and private practice, died Nov. 9 at the age of 81.

Born March 7, 1939 in Gough, Ga., to Julian and Martha Kitchens Johnson, Johnson was raised on his parents' working farm and attended the University of Georgia, where he received both his undergraduate and veterinary degrees. He went on to spend seven years in the U.S. Army Reserves before being discharged in 1963 with the rank of staff sergeant.

Johnson became a boarded equine surgeon and taught for 16 years at the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center, Iowa State University, Kansas State University, Auburn University, and the University of Missouri.

After encouragement from well-known racetrack practitioner Dr. Alex Harthill, Johnson left academia to begin private practice in 1979 in the Central Kentucky area. He is credited with introducing the use of furosemide into racing to prevent incidence of exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage (EIPH), as well as being the first veterinarian to use an endoscope to examine the airway of horses at auction. Johnson was also well known as an advocate to end of the practice of soring and “Big Lick” movement in the Tennessee Walking Horse world.

Johnson's work also included field trial studies for pharmaceutical companies, including Merck, Merial, and Schering-Plough. He scoped more than 2,000 horses as part of field trials for the omperazole treatment now commonly known by its trade name of GastroGard.

According to his obituary, Johnson's patients included many Kentucky Derby and Breeders' Cup winners, as well as grand prix jumpers, Paso Finos, Friesian carriage horses, the Budweiser Cydesdales, Belgian pulling drafts, and the occaisonal stable dog or cat.

Johnson was a published author in the American Association of Equine Practitioners Proceedings, Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, and Journal of Equine Medicine and Surgery, and was a member of AVMA, AAEP, ACVS, NAARV, KVMA, KAEP, FAEP, The Thoroughbred Club, The Keeneland Club.

He is survived by his devoted wife of 30 years, Patricia White Johnson, and daughter Julee Johnson, longtime friend Jo Ann Johnson, daughter Kaitlyn Hildenbrand (Maury), sister-in-law Barbara White Crockett, nieces Jennifer Knight (Mark) and Elizabeth Erickson (Nils) (daughters of his late sister-in-law Jacqueline White), nephew Major Roy B. Crockett, USMC (Anais), adopted daughter Elizabeth Connolly (Jim), grandchildren Juel Johnson; Ty, Alexa, and Ashley Hildenbrand; Christopher and John Connolly.

A memorial will be held sometime in 2021. In lieu of flowers, the family has established a memorial fund in Johnson's honor at the University of Georgia, where friends may contribute to the UGA Foundation (note: The Jerry H. Johnson, DVM Memorial Fund) or online here.

Read an extended obituary of Johnson here.

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