whip rules | Horse Racing Free Tips

Monmouth Kicks Off New Season

OCEANPORT, NJ-Every year, opening day at Monmouth Park marks the unofficial start of the summer season on the Jersey Shore. This year, it seems, Mother Nature didn't get the memo. Fans on-hand for Friday's card braved temps in the mid-50's and steady rain that intensified as the twilight card wore on. Among the casualties, the day's feature–the Jersey Derby–was taken off the turf, losing a pair of 3-year-olds in the process, however, the show marched on resolutely. At the conclusion of the six-race card, total handle was $1,528,236, while the on-track figure was $125,956. In 2020, Monmouth's opening day, which was delayed until July 3 because of the pandemic, drew total handle of $3,422,830, with $159,350 handled on track.

“I come out for opening day every year,” said a Monmouth regular. “Rain or shine, I'm here. “It's a decent crowd considering the weather. We usually love to go to the picnic area. You can bring family and friends and enjoy a day of racing. It's just a wonderful place.”

Like all other racing venues across the nation, Monmouth eagerly welcomed the new season following a forgettable 2020 largely shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the excitement to be back, a major topic of discussion Friday was the recently announced restriction on whip use which was met by mixed reactions from local horsemen.

“It's the elephant in the room,” said trainer Kelly Breen, who won the day's feature with Mr. Amore Stable It's A Gamble (English Channel). “It's not what I envisioned in horse racing.”

Breen, who has been coming to the Jersey oval since 1986, believes the new rule was adopted without including the people it affects the most, the horsemen.

“I truly believe it's changing the whole dynamic of a race. After watching the first couple of races here, I still really don't know what to expect. I'm not sure what the jockey can do. The times and pace for the first two races were slow. I believe the use of the crop changes the way a race is run.”

Coming into this season's meeting, Breen was quick to point out a significant positive–purses. However, he admitted the pace at which the rule was enacted caught many unaware.

“We really have to adapt quickly,” he said. “But I'm learning. I'm trying to adapt like everyone else. That's the best we can do.”

Adding his own insight from a rider's perspective, Jose Ferrer appeared saddened by the latest change in whip rules.

“It's a shame,” he said. “I feel we can't really communicate with the horse as well.”

He continued, “Many people are still confused about the whip. They think it's a big piece of metal, and it hurts the animal. It's made out of rubber and it's cushioned inside. It's not like it was back in the day. It's plastic. They don't realize we spend every day and night with these animals. We love them, why would we want to hurt them?”

Ferrer was one of several jockeys who didn't carry a whip at all in any of the races Friday.

“I have been riding with the whip for 37 years, I'm worried I am going to get fired up and give them that wake-up call, like I am used to doing all these years,” he said. “But that wake-up call will cost me a suspension and a fine–$500 and a five-day suspension. The fine is harsh. It's so new for us, so we just have to get used to it. I don't want to risk making a mistake.”

Hall of Fame jockey Julie Krone, who serves as an assistant to Phil Antonacci, offered a different perspective to the new whip rule facing her contemporary colleagues.

“It is nice to see the racing at Monmouth go so smooth and safe,” she said. “Jockeys look so focused and strong riding with their beautiful hand rides.”

Local horseman Pat McBurney also offered a slightly different take on the new season and its changes.

“I'm always happy to be back at Monmouth Park, and the lessening of the COVID restrictions should make for a good season,” he said. “The major controversy that everyone is talking about is the new whip rule. Every State has a whip rule, it's just our racing commissioner just happened to come up with the strictest whip rule. Having spoken to many of the jockeys before we even took entries, most of them said they'll give it a try, and if they have a problem, I'm sure the Racing Commission and the horsemen will be willing to sit down and talk about it. The first few races looked good finishing, so we just have to see how it progresses.”

“The morning of entries, I was with Jose Ferrer and a bunch of other jockeys and we spoke to the Stewards,” he continued. “They laid out what would be acceptable. They said they wouldn't just slap a fine on them and would talk to them after a race to see why they used a whip if it comes to that. It looks like everyone is working together to see how this is going to work out.”

And while most were happy to return to the seaside oval following a tough year, one face was noticeably missing from this season's new season at Monmouth.

“John Forbes was such fixture at Monmouth,” McBurney admitted. “Especially for me, I'm used to just picking up the phone and talking to him and bouncing ideas off of him. If I had a problem with a racehorse or with an owner, without having him to talk about it has been a little bit difficult. He's very missed.”

However, despite all the recent changes causing a stir at the moment, the things that brings the fans back season after season remains unchanged.

“I love everything about Monmouth, the architecture, the feel of it,” summed up a Monmouth racegoer. “The feeling you get when you walk in the gates. That sense of excitement is palpable. It's just a great get together.”

The post Monmouth Kicks Off New Season appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

For Second Day of Meet, Monmouth Will Have Plenty of Jockeys, Horses

The Monmouth Park racing office appeared to have no problem attracting horses and jockeys for Saturday's card when entries were taken Thursday. A 12-race card attracted 107 entries and there are 22 jockeys named to ride. There had been concerns that the track would fall short in both categories because some of the top riders have decided to sit out the opening weekend at Monmouth because they are concerned about new rules that prohibit whipping in the races, with the only exception being instances when there are safety concerns.

“We are happy with the way things have worked out,” racing secretary John Heims said. “We have some really good races for Saturday. It is a very nice card.”

When asked if the absence of some of the regular jockeys was making it harder to fill entries, Heims said: “It's not a factor and it wasn't a factor for Friday's card either. I read a lot of what was written and one thing that bothered me was somebody writing that we had to scrounge up these riders. We didn't scrounge up anybody. That's not fair to the guys who wanted to ride and feel comfortable doing so.”

The jockey colony for Saturday will include some notable names who are not scheduled to ride Friday. Ferrin Peterson, second leading rider last year, has four mounts and Nik Juarez, seventh in the standings in 2020 will ride four. Both will sit out Friday's card because they were serving suspensions. Hector Diaz Jr., last year's fifth leading rider, will also join the colony after accepting mounts for Friday at Belmont. Seven of the top 12 riders in 2020 will ride Saturday, the notable exceptions being Joe Bravo and Antonio Gallarado. Leading rider Paco Lopez will also be missing, but will be honoring previous commitments he made to trainers to ride this weekend at Gulfstream Park.

The pool of available riders Saturday also includes New York regular Dylan Davis, who will be riding for, among others, Chad Brown. He has seven mounts. Davis was sidelined earlier this year when breaking his clavicle in a spill and has not ridden since March 20.

While there will be one six-horse field Saturday, there is also a 16-horse race, an 12-horse race and an 11-horse race. Heims said he could have attracted even more horses, but decided to only card four grass races because of the threat of rain Saturday.

The post For Second Day of Meet, Monmouth Will Have Plenty of Jockeys, Horses appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Revised CHRB Whip Penalties On Target For BC, Largely With Guild’s Blessing

In an attempt to get a revised whip violations penalty scheme on the books before Del Mar hosts the Nov. 5-6 Breeders' Cup, the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) Wednesday advanced a rule amendment that mostly has the blessing of The Jockeys' Guild because it strips out a previously controversial proposal that would have docked jockeys 50% of purse earnings if they over-whipped while finishing first, second or third in graded stakes.

That purse penalization had been proposed by the CHRB in March in an attempt to disincentivize riders from disregarding the number of times and manner in which a Thoroughbred can be struck with the whip, particularly if the jockey believed the reward of winning a multi-million-dollar stakes far outweighed the cost of incurring a comparatively smaller fine or suspension.

When the Guild and other stakeholders argued last month that going after purse money was too harsh, the CHRB voted 4-3 to table the measure and revise it. The new version that the board voted 6-0 on Apr. 21 essentially is the same proposal, except with the purse penalization removed from the new language of Rule 1688.

Left intact from last month's version was an amendment to change the maximum fine of $1,000 and a minimum suspension of three days to a minimum fine of $500, or, if determined by the stewards to be an egregious or intentional violation, a larger fine, a minimum suspension of three days, or both. That is the meat of the measure that now advances to California's mandatory 45-day public comment period before it will come back to the CHRB for a final vote.

Based on testimony delivered Wednesday by Shane Gusman, an attorney representing the Jockeys' Guild, the riders aren't likely to challenge the proposal before its expected adoption.

Gusman thanked the CHRB for addressing concerns that he aired on behalf of the Guild back in March. “We certainly appreciate the clear linking of the most egregious conduct with the significant, or higher, penalties, and the elimination of the 50% purse forfeiture provision,” he said. “Those were pretty large concerns of the folks in the Guild in California.”

Gusman did say that parts of the penalty scheme do “remain concerning,” including there now being no cap on the maximum fine. He said that creates a concern that “someone could get a fine that's out of whack” in relation to the infraction, and he asked the board to monitor the wide discretion that stewards will be given once the new version of the rule gets officially enacted.

Gregory Ferraro, DVM, the CHRB's chair, reminded Gusman that jockeys always have the avenue of appealing stewards' fines to the full board if they believe they're not fair, adding that, “I think your worries there are probably not significant.”

At the March meeting, CHRB Vice Chair Oscar Gonzales had said that “this rule is [about] making sure that the upcoming Breeders' Cup goes off [more] smoothly than anything else.” He articulated a concern that the combination of two days of Grade I stakes and too weak a penalty scheme would create “a wild west type of a situation” in which jockeys openly flouted the six-strike, underhand-only, no-more-than-two-hits-in succession rule in order to cash in on a lucrative and prestigious payday.

Scott Chaney, the CHRB's executive director, noted that it is standard for the stewards to hold daily briefings with visiting riders from other parts of the country and from overseas during the Breeders' Cup week, and that this year the stewards will be tasked with making sure no rider can say he or she wasn't aware of the whipping protocols and the penalties for violation.

“I think this protects the domestic rider,” Ferraro said with respect to the Breeders' Cup. “Our concern had been that riders, particularly from foreign countries, could violate the rule, and a $500 fine and three-day suspension would be meaningless to them. This allows for considerably more punishment for egregious violations and it's increasingly fair to our domestic rider colony.”

But the Breeders' Cup is only two days a year every several years in California. Chaney, a former steward, explained how the new proposed rule will also affect everyday riding.

“The idea is that it standardizes penalties throughout the state,” Chaney said. “Based on existing language, it appears that we have sort of a disparate application among boards of stewards. And so to be more fair to jockeys, particularly in Northern California, it would create a minimum fine. It also delineates the cases in which stewards would deviate from that fine” for any outlandish abuse of the whip.

CHRB commissioner Alex Solis, a retired Hall of Fame jockey who had spoken out against the version of the rule that was floated last month, was absent from Wednesday's meeting and thus did not cast a vote.

The post Revised CHRB Whip Penalties On Target For BC, Largely With Guild’s Blessing appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Jockeys Say They’ll Skip Monmouth Over Whip Rules

With a court having denied a motion to stay a New Jersey Racing Commission (NJRC) regulation banning the use of the whip, racing at Monmouth is set to get underway under the tightest rules in the nation regarding the crop. But whips may not be the only thing missing on opening day May 28.

At least three jockeys have said that, because of the whip ban, they will not ride at Monmouth this year. Jockeys across the country have come out against whip restrictions, saying that the crop is a necessary tool and that banning them outright would lead to dangerous conditions.

“Under these conditions, no, I don't think I can ride at Monmouth Park,” said Joe Bravo, who has been leading rider at Monmouth 13 times.

Jockeys Antonio Gallardo and Daniel Centeno took to Twitter to announce their decision to not ride at Monmouth this year.

“I have to say something important: I left Presque Isle a few years ago and went to Monmouth, I did very well,” Gallardo tweeted. “It's my second home after Tampa and it's so sad to change my plans just because they put a stupid rule into practice so I can't go back.”

Centento Tweeted: “I was so excited to go back to Monmouth but with that rule they put I can't GO!!! I have to change my plans!!!”

Bravo was third in the standings for the main Monmouth meet last year and Gallardo was fourth. Centeno has not ridden regularly at Monmouth since 2015.

Veteran rider Chris DeCarlo also took to Twitter to express his opinion, but did not say if he intended to ride at Monmouth this year or not.

“NJRC really trying to kill Horse Racing,” he wrote. “Jockeys can't fight and do this alone. Everyone that has a vested interest in racing in NJ should step up to the plate and voice their concern to get this overturned.”

In September, the New Jersey Racing Commission issued rules governing the use of the whip. To take effect with the opening of the 2021 Monmouth meet, jockeys will not be allowed to use their whip unless it is needed for safety reasons. The Jockeys' Guild took the issue to court, but it was announced earlier this week that their request for a stay had been turned down. The Guild plans to appeal that decision, but an appeal is not expected to be heard prior to opening day at Monmouth.

“When they first proposed this last year, I just couldn't fathom having races without any way to encourage the horse” Bravo said. “It passed and we appealed. I kept thinking there is no way they could put this in place. Monday, they denied our appeal. We're facing the fact that in a couple of weeks there is going to be an opening day at Monmouth Park and they will be expecting us to ride under these conditions.”

When announcing the rule change, the commission issued a statement saying the new rule was necessary because of public perception issues.

“The prohibition of the use of riding crops, except when necessary for the safety of horse or rider, will be perceived in a positive light by the general public,” said the statement. “The proposed repeal and new rules are of the utmost importance in adapting the industry to avoid the currently negative public perception of whipping a horse.”

Bravo said that after the court's decision was announced, the Board held a conference call in which the New Jersey riders were given an update.

“I'll put it this way, no one on that call said they were willing to ride there under these conditions,” Bravo said.

Bravo voiced a common theme among the Monmouth riders, that the NJRC took these measures without bothering to consult with the Guild or any of the local riders.

“They didn't even speak to any of the New Jersey jockeys and ask what are your thoughts?” Bravo said. “In today's era, yes, there should be riding crop restrictions. I understand that. They have them at Delaware, at Tampa and in California. We have no problem with that. But to take the whip away completely away…that's crazy. Show me another country in the world with major racing that has these conditions.”

Bravo did not say where he intended to ride this summer, but one option would be Gulfstream Park, where he is currently riding.

The post Jockeys Say They’ll Skip Monmouth Over Whip Rules appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post