Report: Melancon is arrested for 'unnatural stimulation of horses'
Jockey Gerard Melancon, who rode the recently-concluded meet at Evangeline Downs, was arrested in Louisiana Friday on a charge of "unnatural stimulation of horses," according to the office of the St. Landry Parish sheriff and the Louisiana state police.
As reported by Ray Paulick of the Paulick Report, Melancon was released after bail was set at $20,000. No court date has been set, and formal charges are still pending.
Charles Gardiner, executive director of the Louisiana State Racing Commission, told Paulick Report the investigation is centered on the “possible possession of an electrical device.”
Melancon rode at Evangeline Downs on Wednesday and was booked on mounts the following two days but did not ride either program. Then on Friday and Saturday, Melancon was back in the saddle at Evangeline Downs. He also has mounts booked at Louisiana Downs this Sunday.
According to Louisiana state law, Title 4, Amusements and Sports, revised statute 4:175 prohibits the usage of "any electric battery or other apparatus, which might have the effect of unnaturally depressing, stimulating, or exciting any horse during any race" and also prohibits the possession of such devices on racetrack grounds.
Melancon has also been in the news recently as a plaintiff in the Louisiana lawsuit against the Horseracing Safety and Integrity Authority (HISA). The only rider individually named as a plaintiff, he claims in the suit that jockeys under HISA "will face restrictions from entering races, disqualification, fines, and penalties for violations of arbitrary and capricious rules like HISA's crop rule, which conflicts with Louisiana's longstanding rule without any proper justification and jeopardizes jockeys' ability to competitively ride racehorses."
In 32,444 starts dating back to 1984, Melancon has won 5,079 times and banked $89,769,187 in purse earnings. He has won nine graded stakes, including the 2002 Vosburgh (G1) with Bonapaw in 2002. In 2022 he is 38-for-253, with $864,610 in earnings.