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Monmouth Park Stewards Suspend Two Jockeys For Using Riding Crop During Race

Two jockeys received five-day suspensions and $500 fines for violating the New Jersey Racing Commission's riding crop rule stating the crop can only be used “when necessary to control the horse to avoid injury to the horse or rider.”

The two cases are as different as night and day.

Jockey Carlos Eduardo Lopez, who recently came to the United States from Uruguay, was sanctioned for his ride aboard Venezuelan Talent in the seventh race at Monmouth Park on July 11. Kevin Witte, agent for Lopez, said the rider admitted that he “got caught up in the moment” and used the crop to encourage his mount when he was fighting for the lead in the stretch. Venezuelan Affair was overtaken in deep stretch by Emirates Affair, finishing second by a length.

“He only speaks Spanish, but he was told before the race he could not use the whip but that he had the choice to take it with him for protection,” Witte said. “He apologized and will accept the suspension.”

Lopez will be suspended from July 24-July 28, inclusive.

Carlos Montalvo plans to appeal the suspension and fine he received for his ride aboard M I Six, winner of the first race at Monmouth Park on July 11. Montalvo claimed in a hearing with Monmouth Park stewards that he used the whip to prevent M I Six from bolting on the turn – something the gelding's exercise rider said happened during morning training. According to the Equibase chart, Montalvo struck M I Six three times with the crop as the gelding was drifting out on the turn.

The New Jersey Racing Commission prohibits its stewards from talking to the media, referring all inquiries to the office of the New Jersey attorney general, which oversees the commission. The commission has obfuscated when asked to explain what types of situations would warrant acceptable use of the riding crop for safety.

The sanctions against Montalvo suggest the stewards are saying either a horse drifting out and with a history of bolting does not merit use of the riding crop, or they believe Montalvo and those who testified on his behalf at the hearing – including the exercise rider – are being dishonest.

M I Six was entered in a race earlier this week at Parx but was listed as a vet scratch.

Attorney Drew Mollica, who represented Montalvo at the stewards' hearing, will handle his appeal. His suspension is scheduled to run from Aug. 24-Aug 28, inclusive.

Stewards have scheduled a hearing next week with Flavien Prat to consider sanctions for his ride aboard Hot Rod Charlie in the Grade 1 tvg.com Haskell Stakes on July 17. Hot Rod Charlie finished first but was disqualified and placed last after drifting in without clearance after passing Midnight Bourbon in mid-stretch. Midnight Bourbon clipped the heels of Hot Rod Charlie and stumbled badly, unseating Paco Lopez. Neither horse nor rider was seriously injured.

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Awaiting Monmouth Park Stewards’ Decision, Jockey Montalvo Claims Crop Use Was For Safety Purposes

Jockey Carlos Montalvo is awaiting word from stewards at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J., on whether he will be sanctioned for using his riding crop in a July 11 race en route to a three-length victory aboard M I Six in a maiden claiming event.

The New Jersey Racing Commission adopted strict rules that went into effect this year stating that the riding crop “shall only be used when necessary to control the horse to avoid injury to the horse or rider.” The crop is not allowed for encouragement.

Montalvo used the crop at least three times with his right hand on July 11, according to the Equibase chart footnotes, which read: “M I Six dueled two wide for the lead, drifted out entering the turn, had the rider go to a right-handed whip three times, then dueled with Military Drill in upper stretch, put a head in front and drew clear in the final sixteenth, ridden out.”

Montalvo told the Paulick Report he sensed M I Six was preparing to bolt to the outside fence, something he was told to expect by the gelding's exercise rider. Montalvo said he used the crop as a preventive device to protect himself, his fellow riders and the other horses in the race.

The jockey said he was called in to a July 16 hearing before having the benefit of a film review of the race with stewards. He was represented at the hearing by attorney Drew Mollica, who said Montalvo “should be congratulated for his actions, not sanctioned.” Montalvo faces a five-day suspension, $500 fine and M I Six could be disqualified from purse money.

This is the first known case in New Jersey where stewards have to determine whether the use of the riding crop was a legitimate safety issue.

Mollica said M I Six, a 4-year-old Mission Impazible gelding owned and trained by Riquelvis Grullon, was fractious throughout the saddling process and in the walking ring before the July 11 race. The aforementioned exercise rider testified at the hearing, Mollica added.

M I Six was subsequently entered in a July 21 race at Parx Racing in Pennsylvania but was a vet scratch.

The racing commission's presiding steward, Steven Pagano, declined to answer questions about the new regulation, referring all media inquiries to the office of the New Jersey attorney general. A spokesman from that office stated that “the new rule does not specify what kind of safety concerns would result in approved use of the riding crop by a jockey. The NJRC's presiding steward has been conducting meetings with the jockeys and exercise riders to explain the new riding crop rule and answer questions.”

Meanwhile, no hearing date has been set for Flavien Prat, the rider of Hot Rod Charlie, who was disqualified from a victory in the Grade 1, $1-million tvg.com Haskell Stakes on July 17. Hot Rod Charlie drifted in after moving to the lead in mid-stretch, causing Midnight Bourbon to clip heels and unseating jockey Paco Lopez. Mandaloun, beaten a nose by Hot Rod Charlie, was declared the winner.

Prat has been quoted as saying he felt as though he could have prevented Hot Rod Charlie from drifting in if he was permitted to use the riding crop.

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The Friday Show Presented By Monmouth Park: ‘Jersey Joe’ Bravo Tries A Different Shore

A 13-time riding champion at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J., Joe Bravo has shifted his tack to Southern California in time for Friday's opening of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club meeting in Del Mar, Calif. For the first time in years, he'll be watching Haskell Stakes day at Monmouth Park from afar because of his unwillingness to ride under the rules imposed by the New Jersey Racing Commission banning the whip for anything other than safety.

Before getting legged up for his West Coast invasion, Bravo joined publisher Ray Paulick and bloodstock editor Joe Nevills in this week's edition of the Friday Show to talk about what it takes to win at the track where he earned the moniker “Jersey Joe.” For example, Bravo said the speed of the racetrack and front-end or closing biases at Monmouth can be influenced by the tides of the nearby Atlantic Ocean. He suggests watching the color of the dirt track to see if it gets darker or lighter during a day's races as the tides go in or out. That can change how races are run, Bravo said.

Bravo is enthusiastic for the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, a national oversight body for medication and safety regulations in horse racing scheduled to be in place in July 2022. Bravo is looking to HISA to bring uniform national rules for use of the riding crop – currently prohibited in New Jersey for anything other than safety – and medication.

Watch this week's show, presented by Monmouth Park, below:

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The Friday Show Presented By Diamond B Farm’s Rowayton: Whip Reform

Few subjects in racing are more divisive than whip use. In fact, we can't even agree on what to call it. Is it a riding crop or a whip? If it's the former, how do you describe a jockey's actions when he or she strikes the horse: cropping?

In this week's edition of the Friday Show, Ray Paulick and bloodstock editor Joe Nevills review a race from Oaklawn last weekend that saw jockey Ramon Vazquez striking his mount, Rated R Superstar, at least 30 times in the stretch run while finishing second in the Essex Handicap. Vazquez was fined $500 by stewards at the Arkansas track for “striking his horse excessively while not allowing a proper response time.” His cut of the purse was $10,000. Three years ago, the same jockey was fined $1,000 for striking a horse 48 times in the final 3 1/2 furlongs of a race at Prairie Meadows in Iowa.

Racing regulators in various states are beginning to adopt much stricter rules and penalties regarding use of the whip, and the devices themselves are now cushioned and much less likely to leave welts. While some horseplayers and horsemen feel that repeatedly striking a horse to get maximum effort is necessary, the ethics and optics are troubling to many others.

Watch this week's edition of the Friday Show that also includes our Star of the Week and a Toast to Vino Rosso that focuses on one of the 2019 Breeders' Cup Classic winner's first foals.

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