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http://www.courier-journal.com/article/ … ck_check=1
ST. LOUIS — Racing officials are investigating the result of the second race at Fairmount Park last Tuesday to determine whether the jockeys were trying to let 70-year-old R.A. “Cowboy” Jones become the first known rider to win a thoroughbred race in seven different decades.
Illinois state stewards James Lages and Patrick Bovenzi have met with most of the jockeys and trainers involved, although Bovenzi said there were still “a couple we have to talk to.”
Riders in the race, in addition to Jones, were Uriel Lopez, John Lejeune, Jorge Collazo Jr., Mike Kenny and Aymara Rivero, while the trainers were Jerry Hammond, Michelle Booker, Steve Fridley, Gene Allen, Dennis Hughes and John Wiese.
Lopez won the race aboard Ola D., who is trained by Hammond, after rallying at the top of the stretch to defeat Jones and his mount, My Kentucky Breeze, which is trained by Fridley.
“Everything is still under review,” Bovenzi said Saturday night. “It’s still in its investigatory stage. It’s too premature.”
Jones, breaking from the No. 3 post, sat third for most of the one-mile, $5,000 maiden-claiming race while Ola D. was fifth. When the six-horse field was midway through the final turn, Jones put My Kentucky Breeze in the lead, with Ola D. running wide.
My Kentucky Breeze looked like a winner, especially because Lopez and Ola D. “blew the turn” and went far wide on the track.
But with less than a furlong to go, Lopez regained momentum and rallied past My Kentucky Breeze to win going away by 1 ¾ lengths. Magnificent Mandy, ridden by Lejeune and trained by Allen, was third.
What caught the eye of the stewards, and video replay confirmed, were the rides given by Lopez and Lejeune. Once Lopez gathered his horse up, he never hit the horse with his whip in the stretch and, with about 70 yards to go, looked over to the left to see where Jones was as Lopez went by.
Lejeune, who was neck and neck with My Kentucky Breeze at the top of the stretch, never hit his horse with his whip and faded tor third. The other horses finished far back.
latest news is 60 day ban for one jockey.
http://www.courier-journal.com/article/ … ed-60-days
The third-place jockey in the race where riders reputedly (and unsuccessfully) tried to let 70-year-old R.A. “Cowboy” Jones prevail has been suspended 60 days by the Fairmount Park stewards, according to the ruling provided by the Illinois Racing Board on Wednesday.
Jones, who would have become the first known rider to win a thoroughbred race in seven decades, finished second aboard even-money favorite My Kentucky Breeze in the six-horse field. That’s despite the jockey on victorious Ola D. taking his horse very wide rounding out of the far turn and appearing to try to restrain the horse to the wire while finishing first by 1¾ lengths.
Jones and the winning jockey, Uriel Lopez, were not sanctioned, presumably because Lopez still won the race.
However, jockey John Lejeune was suspended for “failure to persevere and put forth his best effort to achieve a maximum placing” in the July 23 race.
Lejeune, aboard Magnificent Mandy, was almost even with My Kentucky Breeze at the top of the stretch but did nothing visually to encourage his horse. He finished third, 1½ lengths behind Jones. The rest of the field was more than 28 lengths back.
“His actions called into question the honesty and integrity of horse racing and were injurious to the betting public,” the ruling said of Lejeune.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch first reported the stewards’ investigation into the race, which caused a stir among fans and horsemen who saw the replay.
Jones, a Kentucky product and popular fixture at the long-defunct Miles Park in western Louisville, has not won a race since capturing three in 2004. He has ridden sparingly the past 15 years, also working as an exercise rider and the “house” jockey at Ellis Park. In that role, he’d stay throughout the card, whether he had mounts or not, in case a horse needed a rider and no one else was available.
No idea but I doubt if it is many by the look of things. Maybe Miss Woodford can help us out.
Well the 70yo lost anyway!
His stats are here (though Equibase’s data only goes back to 1976)
http://www.equibase.com/profiles/Result … J&eID=3520 He’s always been pretty mediocre, and hasn’t won a race since 2004.That said, there’s a few senior jockeys still riding who certainly don’t need collusion to win. 67yo Diane King became the oldest female jockey ever to win a race back in May, and that was a very hard fought victory.
http://www.paulickreport.com/news/thoro … h-america/Not sure why I thought of this when I read the thread header…
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