Jockeys, trainer show solidarity with suspended Paco López

While riders across the country lined up to say the six-month federal suspension given to jockey Paco López “does not fit the crime,” one trainer said the controversial punishment was the last straw in his decision to keep leading sprinter Book’em Danno out of the Breeders’ Cup.

“I was never keen on going to the Breeders’ Cup anyway,” trainer Derek Ryan told Daily Racing Form. “With the disgraceful thing they are doing to Paco López, we’re going to call it a year and send (Book’em Danno) to Florida to freshen up for next season.”

Report: HISA will not set aside López’s suspension.

While Book’em Danno, whose Grade 1 Forego victory last month was his third straight in a graded stakes, goes to the sideline, so does his jockey.

López appealed the long suspension given to him Tuesday by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority. He was accused of 10 crop violations since he served a 52-day ban for abusing National Law in the gallop-out of a Dec. 3 race at Parx. Through attorney Drew Mollica, López’s request to temporarily set aside the suspension during his appeal was turned down Friday.

Jockeys upset with the length of López’s suspension collectively made on-camera statements Saturday at Aqueduct and Churchill Downs to show their solidarity.

“We think it’s very excessive for six months,” Jockeys’ Guild board co-chair John Velázquez told Fox Sports on the New York Racing Association’s race-day telecast. “We think that Paco is definitely under a microscope. We also know he served those days for those multiple violations that he has. But we’re really concerned. The guild is concerned, because more than 50% of our riders have multiple violations, so we’re thinking how far are we going to go with them? I know that Paco is a different case, case by case, but how far can we go the way we are going now with six months?”

The message was much the same from Kentucky riders who appeared together in a video shot for the Jockeys’ Guild X page.

“We just wanted to speak in our opposition of the suspension of Paco López,” Tyler Gaffalione said. “We think it’s excessive. Yes, he did have several violations, but the punishment doesn’t fit the crime. We just want to show our support for Paco, and we’re behind him.”

HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus defended the severity of the suspension, because she said López specifically agreed to it writing Jan. 17 when he promised not to violate crop rules during a two-year probation period.

“HISA’s no. 1 priority is and always will be the safety of all horses and riders,” Lazarus said in a Friday statement to Thoroughbred Daily News. “Suspending Mr. Lopez for six months was not a decision taken lightly but instead a last resort after numerous efforts to encourage him to be compliant with our rules failed.”

Mollica said HISA is taking the violations out of context.

“The National Law incident was about striking a horse in anger post-race,” he told TDN. “They are conflating issues to try and punish Paco.”

Velázquez said the Jockeys’ Guild continues to negotiate crop limits with federal regulators. He hopes HISA will adopt the nuances Kentucky includes in the six-strikes-per-race limit.

“We’ve talked to HISA since we’ve started these rules about the whip,” Velázquez said. “We’re trying to consolidate it and basically change it to the Kentucky rule. We continue talking to HISA, and hopefully we come to some middle ground. Six months is way excessive, and we hope that for the future, we can fix this problem.”

Book’em Danno’s absence from Breeders’ Cup 2025 already looked likely before the López suspension. Ryan told DRF’s Mike Welsch, “I’m also not a big fan of Del Mar. Had the Breeders’ Cup been at Keeneland this year, things might have been different.”