Riding Crop Rule Leads to Battle Over Safety in Jersey

The start of a summer race meet usually ignites an outpouring of excitement.

Good racing, good weather, good betting opportunities, a good time for all.

But as the start of Monmouth Park's 76th season draws closer, there's a much different feeling.

The New Jersey racing community is collectively sitting on the edge of its seat awaiting May 25 when entries will be taken for the May 28 opening day card at Monmouth when months of anger, arguing, and angst will finally come to head.

For Tuesday will mark a pivotal moment in the dispute between jockeys and the New Jersey Racing Commission over the use of riding crops that has Monmouth Park sandwiched in a difficult position and is threatening to send racing in the Garden State into a tailspin. 

"I don't know what the (NJRC) expected but it has slowed down a lot of the hype for the Monmouth Park meet," said trainer Kelly Breen, the runaway leader with 32 wins at the 2020 summer meet. "I don't like negative hype and that seems to be all we are getting out of this."

Tuesday may finally be the time in a costly game of chicken that someone blinks. 

Yet considering how entrenched each side appears to be that hope seems a longshot, at best.

Numerous New Jersey jockeys, angered by a new rule passed last fall by the NJRC that prohibits them from using their riding crops for encouragement unless there is a dangerous situation in both races and morning works, have individually declared they will not ride at the meet under those conditions. 

"I've made a personal decision not to ride at the meet with that rule. Anyone can make their own choice, but I have to do what's right for Joe Bravo," said Bravo, a veteran rider whose long-standing success on the circuit has earned him the nickname of "Jersey Joe."

"I have to thank God it's the Northeast and we have a lot of tracks within an hour or an hour-and-a-half distance of New Jersey," he continued. "But it's a crying shame that I own a home three miles from Monmouth Park and I can't be part of the game there.

"I don't understand politics. I'm a jockey. But this has me puzzled. The rule they are trying to put in place is only in effect in Norway. Nowhere else in the world is there a rule this restrictive. Not Europe. Not Japan. How can they justify putting in a program that was never adopted anywhere else in the world? No one feels comfortable with it."

As a result of most of Monmouth's jockey colony having the same feelings as Bravo, the first day of accepting entries, when trainers will submit the names of their horses and riders for Friday's card, will be an initial litmus test for the jockeys' resolve, showing just how determined and united they are and whether they will remain true to public and private comments that they will not ride at the meet.

As of May 23, only about two to four of the top 15 jockeys from last year's meet have expressed some interest in riding at the Jersey Shore track under the new restrictions imposed by Monmouth's state regulators.

"It's not an issue with Monmouth Park. It's an issue with the racing commission," said Terry Meyocks, president and CEO of The Jockeys' Guild, the national organization that represents professional riders. "They say it's for safety only, but until you ride a horse you don't know what happens in a race.  You need to go through a hole and you know it will close fast so you have to use the crop to encourage the horse. If you don't, the hole will close, horses will not get through and there are going to be accidents. Horses and riders are going to go down and someone is going to get killed."

The two Monmouth-based riders most likely to compete at the meet are Ferrin Peterson and Tomas Mejia. Peterson was second at last year's summer meet with 42 wins while riding with a seven-pound weight allowance as an apprentice through late August and Mejia was 13th with 14 wins.

"I still intend to ride," said Peterson, who has three wins from 49 rides through May 23 in 2021. "My job is to be respectful to the owners and trainers who are getting their horses ready for the meet."

If the riders make personal decisions to stay away, it raises the question of how will horsemen and track management find jockeys to replace them and, if Monmouth brings in less talented riders, what impact will that have on entries and wagering? How will bettors deal with closers who cannot be encouraged with the crop to rally? Will an anemic handle convince the NJRC to scrap the rule and hammer out a compromise? Or will the NJRC stand pat through it all and have stewards strictly enforce the rule.

Those are just a few of the explosive questions awaiting an answer this coming week in yet another in a series of melodramas that have engulfed New Jersey racing over the last decade.

"I want the jockeys to be protected. I don't want them to risk their lives. I do not want horses to be hurt," said Dennis Drazin, chairman and CEO of Darby Development, which operates Monmouth Park. "But there's a different climate going back to (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) becoming active after the problems in California a few years ago. Now there's an outcry for change and states are thinking about what's going on.

"The lives of jockeys and horses are my No. 1 concern and this is disconcerting. Joe is a friend and I want to help him but I can't fix this rule. It's a state rule and I have to enforce it. I've had a lot of discussions with (Bravo and Meyocks) and they are frustrated. If Joe or others do not decide to ride at Monmouth, no one can do anything about it because it's their decision. We'll see what happens Tuesday."

The new rule, which has been in the making for the last two years, allows jockeys to carry a crop but they can only use it when it's necessary to control the horse for the safety of the equine athlete and rider. Even showing the crop to their mount could result in a penalty of a five-day suspension, a fine of $500, and the forfeiting of the jockey's share of the purse if the stewards deem it was not used for safety reasons. Adding to a chorus of boos from the riders is that the length of the suspension and amount of the fine will double each time a rider violates the rule.

"Obviously this has been a complete slap in the face to the jockeys," said rider Nik Juarez, who was seventh with 24 wins last summer and will miss the start of the meet due to a suspension and traveling to Sweden in a bid to bring his wife and 1-year-old son back to the United States. "We've been completely disregarded for our safety as riders and people. I know jockeys do not want to ride without being able to use the crop. You may not always need a seat belt but you want to have one. Horses are a naturally competitive animal and you have to be able to control it. It's a tough financial decision, but I'm not riding if this doesn't get resolved."

The New Jersey jockeys have received support on a national level from Guild leaders and Hall of Famers such as John Velazquez who say they will not ride in New Jersey, even in the TVG.com Haskell Invitational Stakes (G1), under the current rules.

"I can't ride in a situation when I can't do anything until the horses react," said Velazquez, a co-chairman of the Guild's board of directors. "We all agree there has to be crop reform and we have put our thoughts on paper with all the different racetracks and stakeholders but we can't ride under New Jersey's rules."

For trainers, there's a different problem. Aside from wanting a top-quality rider on their horses, some horses need the encouragement from a crop to rally from the back of the pack, raising concerns about racing closers at Monmouth which has traditionally been speed-favoring.

"I'm disappointed in the racing commission," Breen said. "I'm disappointed in the way it was done. I don't know if it was a lack of education on the use of the whip. I don't know where it came from. What the crops are made of now is not harmful to the animal and it is horse racing. We're trying to win races and the way the rules are now to prevent a rider from using a crop for better placement doesn't make sense. I don't care if it's racing horses, people, chickens, I am a competitor and I want to win for my owners and myself."

An example in the dilemma facing horsemen can be found in It's a Gamble , a 3-year-old Breen trains. Breen plans to enter the son of English Channel   in the $100,000 Jersey Derby turf stakes on Friday's card, but he is uncertain of how his horse will run since he's been told in the past how the New York-bred colt needs encouragement from the crop to hit top stride.  

"He needs the encouragement. I'm running him at Monmouth and we have a built-in excuse and that's not something I like to do," Breen said. "The term whipping is a derogatory word. People think the horses are being whipped. They are being encouraged. We are not doing something wrong or harmful to them. We have to encourage horses to cross a puddle of water."

Four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown is based in New York but maintains a division at Monmouth. He was tied for third with 15 wins last year and finds himself understanding both sides of the debate. He agrees with the jockeys but does not want to turn his back on Monmouth due to the loyalty he's received from management in recent years and a commitment to honor the financial concerns of his staff and owners.

"I'm looking forward to the racing season, but I don't agree with the rule at all. It's a poor rule, but I'm at Monmouth and I hope the meet goes on. I'm not looking to hurt Monmouth," Brown said. "I feel decisions are not being made with enough information or data and feedback from the stakeholders, including the gamblers. I don't disagree with the riders for not riding and I will not hold it against them for doing that. I don't believe they are going too far by saying it's unsafe, but I can't turn against Monmouth Park. Hopefully this can get resolved. I don't know how, but I hope it gets resolved."

Like Brown, most of owner Mike Repole's horses are based in New York, but his trainer, Todd Pletcher, is also sending a string of horses to Monmouth. Repole has yet to make a decision on racing at Monmouth, but said he agrees with the riders.

"If the jockeys are concerned about their safety and the horses' safety, I am concerned about people who have never ridden a horse making a decision about the use of (crops) instead of the riders," Repole said. "When the top jockeys tell me they need it, to me it's a no-brainer. How can you not listen to the athletes who are telling you that either they or the animals are going to be in jeopardy?"

While a compromise would seem the best solution, there have been no meaningful discussions on that front. Since the Guild filed a Nov. 2020 appeal in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division, subsequent bids for a stay until the appeal was heard were rejected by the racing commission and the appellate division.

As a result, with a pending court case, NJRC members have refused to comment on the rule and denied a request by Bravo to have the rule placed on the agenda for the May 19 NJRC meeting and did not field questions from Breen on it at that May 19 virtual meeting.

A request from BloodHorse for an interview with NJRC chairperson Pamela Clyne received no response other than an acknowledgement that the request was received.

If there's grounds for a settlement it could come from Kentucky where jockeys and the Guild are pleased with a proposed state rule that would limit overhead strikes to six and underhand strikes can be made in the final three-eighths of a race.

"The Kentucky rules are fine," Bravo said. "In times like today, we need to change. If you're a jockey and you're hitting your horse when you're 10 (lengths) in front, that's wrong."

Meyocks said he would be willing to drop the appeal if a compromise can be worked out.

"In the best interests of racing, if the New Jersey Racing Commission, Monmouth Park, the horsemen, the owners, the Guild can reach an agreement, put a stay in place for the current rule, and adopt the proposed rule in Kentucky, that would be in the best interest of the racing commission, the track, the horsemen, the owners, the jockeys, the betting public, and the general public," Meyocks said.

Some of the frustration stems from implementing such a restrictive rule at a time when national standards are expected to be adopted next year due to the passage of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act. The Jockey Club, which has voiced support for the New Jersey rule, sent a May 21 letter to NJRC executive director Judith Nason advocating it work with members of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority to adopt a national standard.

"I believe there should be one national policy and I do not think I am alone with that," said Drazin, who is hopeful that meetings between the Monmouth stewards and riders can lead to some middle ground in the enforcement of the rule. "We have HISA and they will have the power to address this on a national level. I wish it was enacted yesterday rather than next year. We have to get on the same page."

The final piece to the puzzle comes from the impact on field size and wagering. On Twitter, some gamblers have said they will not bet Monmouth races due to the rule. How that plays out remains to be seen, especially with fixed odds wagering in the works for later in the meet.

"I am hoping gamblers will find a different way to handicap the races here, perhaps giving more of an edge to horses with early speed who do not need encouragement," Drazin said. 

Whatever happens, it's likely to be a volatile week with two sides battling over the meaning of safety.

"They say this is for safety but horses and jockeys are going to get hurt," Meyocks said. "It's all about optics. After the 2008 (Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands, G1), The Jockey Club came to us to change the popper (on the crop) and we did. The cuts and welts on horses have been virtually non-existent with the new crops, but as an industry we have done a piss-poor job of educating the public about the new riding crops and how they do not hurt horses. Instead we listen to a small percentage of people who want to end racing. It doesn't make sense."