Suggested Calif. Breeding Rights Rule Leaves Questions

Members of the California Horse Racing Board's Jockey and Driver Welfare Committee discussed several measures May 18 they believe will improve conditions for riders in the state. But of those suggestions put forth, none has garnered more attention than the idea of automatically granting jockeys breeding rights if they win a graded stakes in California on horses that become eventual stallions.

But it has also left other potentially impacted parties to try and figure out what this could mean should it become reality.

Jockeys' Guild president & CEO Terry Meyocks reacted May 19 to the CHRB's suggestion of awarding breeding rights, saying it came "out of the blue."

"It came from the CHRB," he said. "And what we were told (is) that they wanted to have discussions moving forward. That's all we know."

He added that it is "fairly rare" that jockeys are given breeding seasons.

Trainers sometimes receive breeding rights, and if the seasons are not utilized to breed mares they or some of their clients own, the seasons are often sold for profit or donated to charity.

The Thoroughbred Owners of California, which could have a vested interest should the idea of breeding rights being awarded to jockeys move forward, at the very least appreciates the bigger-picture effort presented by vice-chair Oscar Gonzales.

Part of the initiative is to retain and recruit jockeys to California but the program could become complicated when out-of-state riders travel to win major races in the state. 

Further complications could arise for the connections of geldings in races against intact horses, perhaps leaving such mounts less in demand without the possibility of a jockey securing a breeding right.

"We'd like to thank the vice chairman for trying to think of new ways to keep jockeys in California and encourage him to continue bringing fresh ideas to the table," TOC chairman Gary Fenton said Thursday, the day after the committee meeting. "We haven't had a chance to fully digest this proposal and need more time to flesh out. On its face though we do see some issues, namely the Breeders' Cup and potentially discouraging out-of-town stakes horses from racing in California."

During the committee meeting, CHRB executive director Scott Chaney called the proposal "purposely sort of very general" and hoped for discussion on "how it might play out." Gonzales said the topic of what it will "take to make sure that jockeys are at the table in a meaningful and equitable way" first came up a year and a half ago.

"I believe that when we take a look at breeding rights, and I do know that there's some discussion about how many times a horse can breed, but let's just use the 150 or 140 times per year threshold, at least in this hemisphere, I believe asking for a one-time breeding right—not a lifetime breeding right but just a one-time breeding right—for a graded stakes win is not too much to ask," Gonzales said. 

The committee members acknowledged there is no clear path at the moment and plenty of due diligence is needed in order to move the idea forward. 

Committee member Thomas Hudnut expressed his doubts and called for a legal analysis of the proposal.

"I have a hard time thinking that we can require breeding rights which are somebody's property to be given away," he said.

A day later, during a full CHRB meeting, Hudnut offered further perspective.

"We really need to take a holistic approach to the whole question of jockeys and jockey welfare because relatively few jockeys ride stakes-winning horses," he said. "It's a food chain matter of the jockeys who don't get the chance who are chronically underpaid and frequently overworked, and we need to keep them in our sights as well because if we're talking about looking at this through the lens of equity, those are the guys who more often than not are getting the short end of the stick."

The committee discussed other measures to benefit jockeys on Wednesday. Among them amending rules regarding apprentice jockeys, apprentice allowance, maximum overweights and minimum weights to align with current health and safety standards; and concussion protocols as they relate to HISA.

Meyocks is appreciative of the proposals but said there are other ways to help riders in California.

"Health insurance based on uncashed tickets, that's gone down considerably over the past year," he said. "And the uncashed tickets have gone down the last several years, too."