Jockey Velazquez's Royal Ascot suspension upheld in New York

The New York State Gaming Commission will enforce a suspension for jockey John Velazquez assessed by British Horseracing Authorities stewards, who ruled Wednesday that the Hall of Famer used his whip "above the permitted level and in an incorrect place." Velazquez was riding the Wesley Ward-trained 2-year-old Kimari to a narrow runner-up finish in Royal Ascot's Queen Mary (G2). The commission is expected to release a ruling indicating Velazquez waived his right to evidence why the suspension shouldn't be upheld against him in New York. The term begins Sunday runs through Monday, July 1. One graded stakes, the June 29 Mother Goose (G2) for 3-year-old fillies, is scheduled during the suspension. It's a preferred sentence to the original July 3-11 dates assigned by the BHA. They would have counted Velazquez out of Belmont Park's Stars & Stripes weekend led by the Belmont Derby (G1) as well as opening day at Saratoga. In addition to days, BHA stewards fined Velazquez nine days and £350, or just more than $440.

Velazquez spoke Friday with NBC Sports' and TVG's Britney Eurton, who's on site at Royal Ascot.

"The rules are different here, and the way they use the crop here is different," he told Eurton, indicating that where you contact a horse and how many times played a part in the sanctions. "It's a different way of riding," Velazquez added. "We come here once a year...I made a mistake, and I'm paying for it. I used the whip incorrectly." Upon returning to the U.S., Velazquez was named to ride six horses Saturday at Belmont Park but will need to be replaced aboard three others on Sunday. Presumably, Velazquez could seek mounts elsewhere in the country during his suspension. But sanctions in one American jurisdiction are typically upheld in the others.