Calif. takes no action on increased riding-crop penalties

A proposal that would have significantly increased penalties for riding-crop violations in California was tabled during a regularly scheduled meeting of the California Horse Racing Board on Tuesday.

Chairman Gregory Ferraro moved to postpone action on the proposal following extensive public comment, which included counsel for the Jockeys' Guild, trainer Doug O'Neill and Thoroughbred Owners of California president Greg Avioli among others. The motion passed on a vote of 4-3.

Commissioners Alex Solis, Dennis Alfieri, Damascus Castellanos and Ferraro supported tabling the riding-crop proposal. Wendy Mitchell, Oscar Gonzalez and Brenda Davis were opposed.

Tuesday's proposal would have amended CHRB Rule 1688, Use of Riding Crop, that took effect on Oct. 1. Most notably it would have added a subsection to the rule that would levy a 50 percent fine on a jockey’s earnings for violations in graded-stakes races. The proposal also would have modified the fine language from a “maximum of $1,000” to a “minimum of $500" to facilitate the increase.

Solis, a former jockey and Hall of Famer, first urged the board to table the item in favor of waiting to see what comes of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act that was signed into law late last year. HISA would add a national regulatory body to oversee horse racing in the U.S., including riding-crop rules.

“These guys have gone through a hard time; we just changed this rule, and they are doing a good job,” Solis said. “I talk to them, and they don’t like it, of course, but they say they try and are doing their best. Now we’re going to penalize them even more less than a year after we changed this? This time it is ridiculous.”

In contrast, CHRB chief steward and fellow Hall of Fame jockey Darrel McHargue offered support for the proposal.

“To me when you see a race now and how the whip is used, it is much more palatable than when you have a jockey raise that whip over his head and strike the horse,” McHargue said. He added by raising the fine in graded stakes to 50 percent of a jockey’s pay, “he is going to think twice and remember.

“It also takes away, as we were talking about earlier, from trainers and owners encouraging riders (to violate the rule),” McHargue said. “To me, it takes away that incentive to disregard.” 

Gonzalez shared a similar sentiment to McHargue. He noted given the maximum fine for a crop violation is $1,000, jockeys that ship in to ride in high-dollar California races could be more apt to flout the rules.

“If there are riders that come from out of town and disregard the rules ... it could really create a Wild West situation,” Gonzalez said. “I believe any out-of-town jockey that comes in, they’re going to have to play by the same rules instead of walking away with the potential purse money and paying a minimal fine.”

In the end Ferraro indicated he was swayed by the debate to delay any action on the proposal

“After hearing some of the comments ... I thought they were quite pertinent,” Ferraro said. “It makes me believe we ought to look at this a little longer before we make (a decision).”

Before the meeting a CHRB spokesman noted any rule changes adopted by the board would take at least six months to go through the entire regulatory process. That means this latest proposal would likely need to be approved at next month’s meeting in order to be in effect for this year’s Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar on Nov. 5 and 6.