De La Cruz wins objection but gets 3-day suspension

Jockey Fernando De La Cruz won the race but lost the film review, as Indiana Racing Commission stewards suspended the journeyman three days for his ride abord Here U Come Again in race 9 last Thursday at Horseshoe Indianapolis.

Another jockey, apprentice Irving Moncada, received a one-day suspension despite being demoted in the race.

Here U Come Again and Bright Lady Day, with Moncada riding, engaged in a protracted duel along the rail. Bright Lady Day squeezed through to win by a head at 16-1 over the 2-5 favorite in a four-horse race.

De La Cruz lodged an objection against Moncada, and stewards honored it by elevating him to the winner's circle. But they said both jockeys had to appear for a film review.

"(We) determined Moncada forced his horse into inadequate space on the rail ... causing De La Cruz to alter course and costing him the win," stewards said in their daily report to the commission.

After a review of film Tuesday, however, stewards suspended De La Cruz for three days and Moncado for one. De La Cruz's agent Jimmy McNerney said his rider would appeal.

"Jockey De La Cruz is suspended three race days (Tuesday-Thursday) for willfully allowing his horse to make contact with a rival during the running of the ninth race (last Thursday) at Horseshoe Indianapolis," stewards wrote in the commission report.