Lynch Finding New Life in Maryland

He's a long way from home and far removed from what once looked like a promising career as a jockey in England, and that's fine with Fergal Lynch. Being a top rider in the U.S. at Pimlico is something the Irish-born jockey never imagined for himself, but it's far better than he probably had any right to expect when a race-fixing scandal turned his life and his career upside down.

With four days to go in the meet, Lynch is tied for second-place with Trevor McCarthy in the jockey standings at Pimlico with 23 wins, one behind Victor Carrasco. Whether he wins the title or not, his success at the meet signifies that this new chapter in his career is obviously a successful one.

Lynch's troubles began in 2004 when he got involved with a gambler named Miles Rogers and starting feeding him information so he could “lay” or bet against horses on Betfair. Lynch said he started by just giving Rogers his opinions on whether or not he thought a horse he was riding would run well, but it eventually evolved into something far more serious. After a horse Lynch had told Rogers he thought would run poorly won, Rogers put pressure on Lynch and got him to promise to hold a horse at Ripon.

The horse lost and Rogers cashed his bet, but eventually the authorities unraveled what had been going on with Lynch. As his case made its way through the legal system, he rode on and again an off again in various countries, including the U.S. In 2009, Lynch admitted that he had held the horse and was told by the British Horse Racing Authority that his license would be rescinded for at least 12 months.

Lynch was unable to ride anywhere until August 2014 when he reached an agreement with the BHA that allowed him to return. One of the stipulations was that he had to agree to make an educational video in which he admitted what he did and warned other riders to avoid making the same mistakes. Though he was having success upon his return in the UK and won the 2015 GI Woodbine Mile with English shipper Mondialiste (Ire) (Gallileo {Ire}), he decided to come to the U.S. and make this his base, knowing, among other things, that he would have the support of his brother, Cathal, a successful trainer in the Mid-Atlantic region.

“I have always liked riding in America and have always liked the racing in America,” he said. “Obviously, Frankie Dettori has been successful in both Europe and America. His style, it doesn't look out of place here, like some of the European jockeys look. The travel in England was one of the major drawbacks. I just didn't want to be driving 300, 400 miles a day going from track to track on a daily basis. In America, you stay in one area. That's one of main things I was looking for her. I think that helps extend your career, if you do less traveling.”

He started off at Gulfstream, where he won just four races from 114 starters.

“I didn't get discouraged in Florida,” he said. “I never really planned to ride a lot of winners there. It's just a nice place to spend the winter and when you ride against Johnny Velazquez and Javier Castellano you can learn a lot from those guys. I rode in the mornings at Palm Meadows every day and made a lot of big contacts down there.”

As soon as he moved to Maryland, where he was immediately given mounts by his brother, his fortunes changed.

“I probably am exceeding my expectations, but I wasn't going to stay here if I wasn't going to be successful,” he said. “I was going to go back to England and ride there. I rode a lot of nice winners in England last year. I wasn't going to sit on my hands in Maryland and just hope that it went well. You have to go out and make it happen.”

Which is exactly what he has done. Lynch knows he can never remove the stain of the race-fixing incident from his life or his record, but he has found a new avenue for success and says he has done his very best to put the past into the past.

“There were dark ways where I didn't know which way to turn or where I was going to end up and couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel,” he said. “I think the main thing is having my wife (Pamela) behind me and the support of my family. I just kept going. I just didn't give up.

“It's not as if nothing ever happened. Everybody is entitled to their opinion and people are entitled to think whatever they want of me, but I like to think I've got closure with people in England. I've been back there, I've helped the British Horse Racing Authority. I've helped the apprentices and I'd like to try to help apprentices over here, too. With bug riders, young naive people who are 16, 17, 18 years old and coming into a dangerous sport, there can be pitfalls and things you have to look out for. I want to try to help people so they don't make the same mistakes others have made.”

Lynch is far from the only jockey that has been caught up in a scandal involving exchange wagering, which, for the first time, gave gamblers the opportunity to bet on a horse to lose. Betfair is trying to get a foothold in the U.S. and is now legal in New Jersey. Lynch doesn't think that U.S. racing should allow exchange betting.

“I'm probably the last person you should ask about that, but I am personally totally against it (being allowed in the U.S.),” he said. “I just think it opens up a can of worms that you can't close once it's open. I don't think anything positive can come from it. The only thing you get is negative press and negative publicity for horse racing.”

Since his return, Lynch, 37, has completely stayed out of trouble and has said all the right things.

“This happened a long time ago, in 2004, 12 years ago, and a lot of time passed,” he said. “I was a boy then, I'm a man now.”

He won't rule out moving back to the U.K. some day, but doesn't see it happening. He has found a home for himself in Maryland, where his life has settled down considerably and he's winning races.

“I'm happy in Maryland,” Lynch said. “My wife and dogs are here. They've shipped over. We're based here and it's a good permanent base. If something came up in Dubai over the winter I might consider that, but home now is Maryland.

“In life, you have to move on and you have to keep trying to go forward.”