Luis Saez Suspended for June Incident at Belmont Park

New York regulators imposed a seven-day suspension Oct. 28 on jockey Luis Saez for a bumping incident at Belmont Park in June, the month after his controversial ride in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) that led to the disqualification of Maximum Security with Saez aboard.

The New York State Gaming Commission, by a 6-0 vote, upheld a state hearing officer's recommendation that the jockey be suspended for a week following an episode that saw Saez's horse removed from first place in the seventh race June 28 at Belmont. In that turf race, Saez rode Anne Dupree and was placed third by officials for interfering with Enlisting—ridden by Javier Castellano—in the race's stretch.

Saez requested a hearing into the matter, which was held in August. The jockey was given the original suspension order following the June incident by state racing steward Erinn Higgins. The suspension was stayed during the appeal process.

The NYSGC's board agreed to the suspension Monday without public comment. Officials said after the board's meeting that it will be up to racing stewards to determine when the seven-day suspension will kick in.

Karen Murphy, Saez's attorney, said her client has been "disproportionately and routinely" punished in New York compared with other jockeys. She said her client receives multiple days of suspension for alleged incidents while other jockeys are given financial fines or no penalties or just warnings.

In an email, she responded by stating "repeat offenders" during the Saratoga meet were given three days' worth of suspensions "and allowed to appeal and then to drop the appeals with no further penalty."

Murphy said she does not know how the June incident with Saez riding Anne Dupree was handled because she has not yet seen the state hearing officer's report on the matter. She said her client also had moved to have the case dismissed over claims that the rule—including the one governing careless riding—was improperly drafted by the state.

"Rules matter,'' Murphy wrote this summer in her motion involving New York officials' orders against her client, according to a copy of the document Murphy provided Monday. She added placement decisions by stewards following allegations of interference in a race have been wrongly interpreted to be mandatory when, she said, they are discretionary.

In a separate September document Murphy wrote to NYSGC hearing officer Michael Hoblock, Murphy said Saez has been subjected to "disparate treatment" by New York officials.

Murphy listed in her email to Hoblock specific jockeys who she contended were given lesser penalties than her client, resulting in advantages for them over Saez. "They continue to ply their trade uninterrupted and further are allowed to avoid cumulative suspension punishments. Not so for Mr. Saez,'' Murphy wrote.

The hearing officer's report detailing the June incident at Belmont was not publicly available Monday.

A state Gaming Commission database shows Saez is facing potential disciplinary action for two separate incidents in August at Saratoga Race Course; one case involves a careless riding claim and the other is for alleged interference. Suspension orders in those two cases have been stayed pending appeals, the database showed Monday.

Maximum Security, ridden by Saez, became the first horse disqualified after finishing first in the 145-year history of the Kentucky Derby. The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission handed Saez a 15-day suspension after the incident, a ruling that remains under appeal.