US Track Bans Jockeys for Refusing Rides

In a sign of the times, a new law forbidding jockeys to use their crops other than for safety has made track management take a stance against jockeys who are unwilling to ride at Monmouth Park in the United States. Monmouth director and secretary of racing, John Heims, told bloodhorse.com that the riders who refuse to accept any Friday twilight card rides cannot ride for the rest of the racetrack’s meeting. Heims believes it is a boycott and will not allow people to cost them money from cancelling races. “The rule is not changing so if you will not ride Friday since you believe it’s unsafe, why would you ride any other day?” Thus far, Monmouth has 12 jockeys lined up for Friday’s racing. The ban will not apply to riders who had previous commitments for Friday. Understandably, currently serving riding suspensions, none of the jockeys paco Lopez, Nik Juarez or Ferrin Peterson, will not face any penalty from Monmouth.