Jockeys’ refusal to race leads to cancellations at Finger Lakes

A gate accident that left a rider with a limb broken in three places led the rest of the jockey colony to abandon the last five races of Wednesday’s card at Finger Lakes, where a regularly scheduled meeting Thursday was expected to take up a percolating safety crisis.

Óscar Gómez, a native of Guatemala who has made Finger Lakes his home track since 2009, suffered two leg fractures and a broken ankle when Two Step Slew, the 7-year-old gelding he was riding in the fourth race, reared and flipped upside down in the starting gate.

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After the ambulance at the track took Gómez to a nearby hospital in Farmington, N.Y., there was a delay until another first responder would be ready.

It was during that break when jockeys expressed anger stoked one day before, when Andre Worrie and his first-time starter Big Brad Soldier fell to the track in the Tuesday finale. Worrie broke his arm and will miss up to six weeks. The 3-year-old filly suffered a broken cannon bone and was euthanized.

“There’s a lot of emotion and tension,” said Austin Reed, executive director of the Finger Lakes Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association. “The jockeys just want people to be scooped up and taken out fast, and that’s not what you can do all the time now.”

Reed cited new safety protocols written by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority regarding the rescue of fallen jockeys. He said that was one topic for Thursday’s noon EDT meeting at Finger Lakes, where track executives, horsemen’s and jockeys’ advocates and a HISA steward were expected to attend.

“A whole lot of frustration has built up over the last couple days and even the last couple years with the lack of response from the EMS service providers at Finger Lakes,” Jockeys’ Guild president and CEO Terry Meyocks said Thursday.

One source close to the situation told Horse Racing Nation that jockey Jackie Davis had to carry medical gear from an ambulance technician to Gómez, because Two Step Slew was still a safety risk while he was lodged in the starting gate. The horse eventually was freed and was expected to be OK.

Finger Lakes jockeys felt there was what Meyocks called “a lack of urgency” when it came to making sure another ambulance was at the ready. Meyocks also said the steamy, summer weather did not help matters when the seven horses and seven jockeys still in the field for the $5,000 claiming race were ordered to wait.

“You had horses in the paddock when it was almost 100 degrees,” he said. “The vets were concerned about horses being in the paddock for that long.”

About 15 minutes after the gate incident, the race was canceled altogether. Within another 15 minutes, the jockeys told track management they were not going to ride any more races Wednesday. A notice then went up on the track’s video feed that said, “The remainder of today’s card has been canceled.”

“They lost confidence in the medical staff,” Reed said. “They thought they were slow to react.”

Then came the first of two emergency meetings Wednesday involving track executives, the starter, assistant starters and other gate crew as well as jockeys. That was where explanations were shared as were emotions.

“The starter at the gate has got to release the medics to come serve the jockey,” Reed said Thursday. “When the scene is not secure, we might have to develop a new plan with the jockeys today. We also can’t drag somebody off if we don’t know their vertebrae is broken or if they’ve got a punctured lung. You can’t just drag them under the rail.”

That was what happened Tuesday, though, when an ambulance positioned beside the outside rail did not travel to the inner rail, where Worrie had fallen after a spill in the homestretch.

“We believe it’s probably safe to have the ambulance protect the jockey in case a loose horse comes back around the track again,” Reed said. “That’ll be a suggestion that I think should be put in writing, that the ambulance should protect the side of the jockey. They’ve had some discussions about whether the ambulance should be a blocker of a loose horse running around.”

Only two horses have died racing at Finger Lakes since last November, according to a database maintained by the New York State Gaming Commission. Video of Tuesday’s breakdown was edited out of the race replay, and all of Wednesday’s videos were absent from the Finger Lakes website and YouTube page.

According to the New York State Department of Health website, the Finger Lakes Racing Association operates the track’s first-response unit.

A spokesperson for Finger Lakes Gaming & Racetrack emailed Horse Racing Nation a statement Thursday afternoon that said, “Fellow jockeys expressed some concern with the medical response (for Gómez) and requested a meeting with management in lieu of riding in the remaining races of the day. Throughout the last 24 hours Finger Lakes management has had very productive discussions with jockeys, horsemen and staff in order to better understand their concerns as well as convey the challenges faced by medical personnel in an emergency situation. We will continue to strengthen protocols where able and maintain ongoing weekly dialogue with all stakeholders.”

“Nobody’s wrong here,” Reed said. “It’s a very sad circumstance, but some more things need to be in writing.”

After talking with the parties involved at Finger Lakes, Meyocks sounded more upbeat late Thursday morning about the likelihood of solutions there. He weighed the bigger, national picture, though, as he also considered jockey Abel Cedillo, who was removed from the track Sunday after a spill at Del Mar not by emergency medical personnel but, instead, by members of the track crew.

“Three things could have led to a catastrophe at Del Mar,” Meyocks said. “One, the stewards that are employed by the (California Horse Racing Board) didn’t make a determination to cancel the race or not. Two, the paramedics froze, because they didn’t know what to do. And three, the starter didn’t know what to do because the stewards didn’t cancel the race, the paramedics froze, and there was going to be another catastrophe. Still, three wrongs don’t make a right.”

Racing is not scheduled to resume at Finger Lakes until Monday. The track statement Thursday afternoon said that card would go forward as scheduled.