Jockey Suspended for Pulling Up Heavy Favorite at Start

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Jockey Suspended for Pulling Up Heavy Favorite at Start
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Photo: Coady Photography
Racing at Turf Paradise

In a ruling issued March 17, Turf Paradise stewards suspended jockey Fausto Da Silva 30 days for "conduct detrimental to racing" after pulling up 1-20 favorite Juror  just strides into the fourth race there March 10.

The race drew attention from frustrated horseplayers when Da Silva immediately restrained the Juan Pablo Silva-trainee in the two-turn maiden claiming race, and quickly withdrew his feet from the irons as he halted the Tijuana Racing Stables-owned Tapit   gelding early in the clubhouse turn.

A tote investigation by the track mutuel director yielded no immediate irregularities in betting patterns, Turf Paradise general manager Vince Francia said last week.

Juror was vanned off from the March 10 race and was claimed for $3,500 by trainer Eliska Kubinova for owners Gary and Deborah Lusk and D. J. Saddler. The well-traveled 5-year-old had raced 12 times earlier for multiple trainers. 

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In the stewards' ruling, first posted on Twitter March 17 by Turf Paradise announcer Craig Braddick, stewards cited the jockey for not taking his mount pre-race "to the track vet for an examination, after he suspected that the horse might have an injury." The dates of his suspension are March 25-April 24.

The Arizona Racing Commission forwarded a ruling to BloodHorse March 18 matching the one posted by Braddick. ARC public information officer Maxwell Hartgraves wrote in an email that "the stewards are still investigating other licensees involved in the matter. "

Arizona does not have a voided claim rule, whereby a claimed horse declared unsound is returned to its original owner. As in other states, Arizona rules state that "a claimed horse shall race for the account of the horse's original owner but title to the horse shall transfer to the claimant when the horse becomes a starting horse." 

Thereafter, "after title to the horse transfers to the claimant, the claimant becomes the owner of the horse regardless of whether it is alive or dead, sound or unsound, or injured before, during, or after the claiming race," the rules continue.

According to Braddick, the former trainer of Juror has a hearing March 24.