Heavy hitters discuss proposed crop restrictions in New York

Representatives from across the horse racing industry participated in an informational meeting on crop usage held Monday by the New York State Gaming Commission, which is considering changes to its rules structure.

The current rule in New York allows for five strikes with the crop before the horse must be allowed to respond. It also gives broad leeway to the stewards to determine whether a crop is being misused, an arrangement that representatives of the Jockey’s Guild said they see no reason to change.

“Sometimes we’ve got to use it even before they do something to let them know that you have control of the horse,” John Velazquez, co-chairman of the Jockey’s Guild, said of the need for the crop. “That’s the way we keep everybody safe.”

Mike Smith, co-chairman of the Jockey’s Guild, agreed with Velazquez, saying he would not have won the 2005 Kentucky Derby on board Giacomo if he was unable to use the crop to encourage the horse, as riders are currently banned from doing in New Jersey. He also took aim at recent rule changes in California.

“The whole thing is just set up to fail,” Smith said of California’s rules, which require underhand strikes and limiting the number of allowable strikes to six. “You guys have it right in New York — keep it that way. I hate to speak too much on it, but it’s something that’s going on in California and we’re having a rough, rough time with it.”

Both jockeys maintained that the crop needs to remain as both a safety and encouragement measure and said New York currently has a good rule and no changes are needed.

Others in the meeting disagreed, including Martin Panza, NYRA’s senior vice president of racing operations, who said much of the problem with current crop use is the public’s perception of the sport in a world where animal abuse is taken very seriously.

“We see a lot of input on our social media platforms at times,” Panza said. “That said, I think our jockeys have done a very good job this year of being cognizant of that and we haven’t seen a lot of instances, but we do see it on social media.”

Panza argued that any punishments made for improper crop usage would need to be serious enough to make riders think twice about abusing the crop. Matt Iuliano executive director of the Jockey Club, agreed, saying that rule changes will be needed.

“I realize it’s a difficult pill to swallow because crops have been in racing for decades if not centuries,” Iuliano said. “But that perception of striking has changed. In the public’s eye it’s something that has been a deterrent.”

Adding to the complicated issue is the fact that a uniform rule for crop use has not been agreed upon across all jurisdictions. New and different rules are in place for New York, New Jersey, Kentucky and California, all with different levels of strictness and enforcement.

No action was taken at the meeting, which was intended to be purely informational. The commission generally meets on the fourth Monday of every month, though Monday’s meeting took the place of the regularly scheduled one for October.

Panza said the commission has the luxury of not having to act immediately or be the first to act on the issue, pointing out that New York can watch how the new rules affect racing in other places.

“We have the ability as a group to watch that for the next six months and see if in fact, is that the right way to go,” Panza said.