Baird Fined for Overuse of Riding Crop in Breeders' Cup

The Del Mar board of stewards fined veteran jockey E.T. Baird $5,000 on Nov. 6 for violating California's strict riding-crop rules in piloting One Timer  to a ninth-place finish in the $920,000 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G2T) Nov. 5.

The penalty far exceeds fines of $500-$1,000 that are most common in California for riding-crop violations. This year, the California Horse Racing Board gave stewards the authority to increase fines in high-value contests such as Breeders' Cup races to prevent overuse of the crop in those races.

Stewards cited Baird for using his crop more than six times aboard One Timer, who pressed the pace of victorious Twilight Gleaming  before yielding and drifting out initially on the turn and then in the stretch. Video replays suggest Baird struck One Timer on his right side at least eight times. Jockeys will typically strike a horse on the side in which it is drifting as a corrective measure.

The defeat was the first in One Timer's four-race career for owners Patricia's Hope and Richard Ravin and trainer Larry Rivelli. The Trappe Shot  gelding earned $10,000 Friday to advance his earnings to $148,153. He had previously won the Speakeasy Stakes at Santa Anita Park, the Victoria Stakes at Woodbine, and a maiden race at Arlington International Racecourse.

Baird is based in Illinois, where riding-crop rules differ from those in California.

Officials indicated earlier this week that they would speak with incoming jockeys before the Breeders' Cup to inform them of California's regulations.