NY Passes Suspension Restrictions, Takes Aim at Mutuel Uncoupling of Married Jockeys

Without any public discussion among commissioners and in quick succession by unanimous voice vote, the New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) Monday enacted a new rule designed to keep jockeys from stalling via filing appeals to get out of serving riding suspensions during the lucrative Saratoga Race Course meet.

In similarly brisk fashion, the NYSGC also set into motion Feb. 28 the advancement of a proposed regulation to lift controversial pari-mutuel restrictions related to married jockeys competing in the same race. This measure must come back for a final vote after publication in the state register and a presumably final round of public commentary.

It's now been 14 months since newlywed spouses Katie Davis and Trevor McCarthy made unwanted headlines when an antiquated NYSGC rule requiring the mounts of married jockeys to be treated as a single betting interest forced confusing pari-mutuel couplings in 41 races in which they competed against one another.

Between Jan. 1 and Mar. 21, 2021, McCarthy and Davis's mounts in common races at Aqueduct cost an estimated $4.2 million in handle loss.

The regulation in question, rule 4025.10 (f), states, “All horses trained or ridden by a spouse, parent, issue or member of a jockey's household shall be coupled in the betting with any horse ridden by such jockey.”

The application of that little-used rule was widely bemoaned by the betting public and termed as sexist by some critics. But the NYSGC did not address the controversy during any open, public meetings in 2021 while a piece of legislation to update the regulation sailed unanimously through both the Assembly and Senate.

But on Oct. 25, that bill was surprisingly vetoed by New York Governor Kathy Hochul, who explained that she would instead be directing the NYSGC to review the “continued need for mandatory coupling and the circumstances under which such a requirement might be relaxed.”

That directive resulted in a Jan. 11, 2022, commentary-seeking pow-wow of Thoroughbred industry stakeholders, regulators, and track officials, during which not a single person advocated in favor of keeping the antiquated rule as written.

Monday, the matter was finally up before the NYSGC to put in motion the process of changing the old regulation by simply deleting the word “shall” from rule 4025.10 (f) and replacing it with the phrase “are not required” to be coupled.

'Saratoga' rule changed

The so-called “Saratoga rule” dates to an initiative from June 2021 in which the NYSGC sought to end the resource-draining practice of jockeys appealing riding infractions during big-money race meets like at Saratoga, then withdrawing those protests once the meet was over for the sole purpose of delaying a suspension until it was more convenient for the penalized rider to serve the days.

The resulting re-write gives the commission discretion to instead make the jockey sit out a suspension at a subsequent meeting at the same track, meaning a rider's Saratoga penalty might not be able to get pushed back to, say, Aqueduct in the winter, if the stewards opted to make the days instead carry over to the start of the next year's meet at the Spa.

The measure voted in on Monday reads: “If a jockey commits a riding infraction and the penalty of a suspension or revocation is not served during the same race meeting, then the commission in its discretion may order that the penalty be served, in whole or in part, at a subsequent race meeting at the same track.”

According to a brief written by NYSGC general counsel Edmund Burns, only one entity, the Jockeys' Guild, filed a public comment on the proposed rule change. Burns summed up the opposition as such:

“The Jockeys' Guild opposes codifying this policy as a regulation. Instead, the Jockeys' Guild suggests that hearing requests brought in bad faith should subject a jockey to sanctions if the appeal is found to have been brought frivolously.

“The Jockeys' Guild also suggests that the regulation allow for jockeys who are suspended for minor riding violations for 10 days or less be permitted to ride in “designated races” during the suspension, serving a day of suspension at a later time to make up for the designated race day. The Jockey's Guild suggests that such a policy may decrease the number of jockey challenges.

“In the alternative, the Jockeys' Guild states that if the rule is adopted, the rule should retain the provision allowing for discretion in whether a penalty should be served at the same track.”

The NYSGC staff responded in writing to the Guild's suggestions. But the response was redacted in its entirety from Burns's brief, so it can't be published here.

Other proposed rules

Also advancing to publication in the state register and the required public commentary period on Monday were:

a.) An amendment to the regulation governing licensing for a jockey agent that removes the requirement for an applicant to have been previously licensed as an exercise person, apprentice jockey, jockey, assistant trainer or trainer for at least one year. The proposed change would instead allow the stewards to determine whether an applicant is qualified. TDN first reported on this seemingly restrictive practice back in 2020.

b.) Amendments to the jockey equipment weighing rules that would eliminate the need for jockeys to be weighed with muzzles, martingales and breastplates, like in Florida, Kentucky, California, and other states.