The forecast for the thoroughbred horse racing summer meet at Monmouth Park didn’t just grow cloudy over “friend-of-the-racetrack” trainer Bob Baffert’s issues with a failed drug test of his Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit.
Already percolating is an issue over the New Jersey Racing Commission’s relatively stringent limits on the use of riding crops, or whips, by jockeys.
The racetrack’s legendary ace — 13-time champion Joe Bravo, aka “Jersey Joe” — already has signaled that he is not interested in spending the summer at Monmouth Park.
“To put it in layman’s terms, it’s like no jockeys, no racing,” Bravo told the Asbury Park Press. “I really don’t understand what riders would be there.”
Honestly, I really don’t see me riding under these conditions. Even though Monmouth has always been my home, and I am know as “Jersey Joe”, I am going to have to find other tracks to ride at this summer.
— Joe Bravo (@bravoace) April 20, 2021
The racing commission raised this issue back in January 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic became a factor. The rules were adopted in September, just after the Monmouth Park racing season ended.
But the downtime hasn’t soothed the concerns of many jockeys such as Bravo.
A racing commission under fire
“The prohibition of the use of riding crops, except when necessary for the safety of the horse or rider, will be perceived in a positive light by the general public,” the commission wrote last year. “The proposed repeal and new rules are of the utmost importance in adapting the industry to avoid the currently negative public perception of whipping a horse.
“It is possible that members of the industry will initially be resistant to such change; however, the proposed repeal and new rules will apply equally to all competitors, such that all race participants will be adjusting to the proposed repeal and new rules at the same time.”
The commission has just four members on what is supposed to be a nine-member board, with five seats still vacant. A recent state audit found a series of failures to collect fines and other accounting mishaps.
The jockeys also have objected to what they say was a lack of interest in hearing their input before the rules were put in place.
“Basically, these people, these racing commissioners — I made a comment a month ago to somebody that they’ve lost their minds or they’re clueless,” Terry Meyocks, president and CEO of the Jockeys’ Guild, told horseracingnation.com.
“And I don’t know where what they’re thinking about. They’re not listening to Hall of Fame jocks, who probably are the most respected people in our industry.”
Horseman in the middle
Caught squarely in the middle is Monmouth Park’s Dennis Drazin, whose Darby Development company runs the track for the state’s thoroughbred horsemen.
Drazin joined the jockeys in initial opposition to a total ban on riding crops, saying that would literally put jockeys’ lives at risk. But the final rules wound up giving jockeys some leeway — though not enough, in their opinion.
“Joe Bravo is not coming back, and we’re going to miss him — he’s a good guy,” Drazin told NJ Online Gambling. “I support the jockeys — I don’t want them to be upset.”
Still, a boycott and demonstration at Monmouth Park’s Opening Day of May 28 would be grim for business.
Drazin said he doesn’t expect that result, as jockeys involved in such a demonstration could leave them banned from riding in any other states.
Drazin added that the revision of the rules specifically addresses the most urgent concern — meaning that jockeys still may use the riding crop to steer a horse out of a potentially dangerous situation.
And whipping a horse who is a hopeless five lengths behind the field not only is pointless, “it’s a public perception” issue of seemingly punishing an animal for poor performance.
The ultimate solution, Drazin said, needs to be a single rule that applies to all racetracks across the U.S. The Jockeys’ Guild is working on that, he said.
Jockeys lose in court
The guild last month failed in a bid to have a state court stay the limitations until its case is decided. That has left the jockeys to decide for themselves if “except when necessary for the safety of the horse or rider” is a sufficient safety guideline.
Even if enough jockeys grudgingly go along, there is a concern that some of the biggest-spending horse players might shy away from Monmouth Park races due to the limitations. Bettors naturally expect a jockey to do anything within reason to coax a horse toward a first-place finish — or place or show, at least.
But the issue of “public perception” by non-bettors has become more difficult to ignore. At the Haskell — the biggest day of the year at Monmouth Park — in 2019, activists from the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) demanded that the races be canceled because of the high temperatures that day.
Drazin found a middle ground, running two races but then canceling six others before running the main races in the early evening. He said that while he thought it was unlikely that the heat would lead to any equine fatalities, he recognized that such a result could severely damage the entire industry. Hence the compromise.
The issue also applies, to a certain extent, to harness racing at the Meadowlands Racetrack and at Freehold Raceway.
Meadowlands operator Jeff Gural told NJ Online Gambling in 2019 that he already had limited the use of whips “in light of all the negative publicity out there.”
Some first-time visitors to racetracks, particularly in recent years, have recoiled at the sight of riding crops being used — leading racing industry officials to reflect on whether the value of their use outweighs that perception.
Baffert controversy also an issue to grapple with
Finally, there is Baffert, whose future is in some question over yet another of his horses running afoul of drug tests.
The legendary trainer had the first taste of his favorite Jersey Shore hot dog at nearby Max’s Famous almost 25 years ago, and he often has expressed his affinity for the track where his horses have won nine Haskells.
But Churchill Downs officials have said that Medina Spirit’s Derby win could be rescinded, pending further tests. If Baffert’s stable winds up being horses non grata at Monmouth Park, a hoped-for rebound in attendance for The Haskell on July 17 may be dampened by his absence.
Photo by Neale Cousland / Shutterstock
