six-strike limit

Both the jockey and the owner/breeder of the second-place finisher in the Feb. 18 GIII Sunland Derby have filed a notice of appeal with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in an attempt to reverse a more-than-six-strikes whipping disqualification under Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) rules that cost them the placing in that stakes and $85,360 in purse winnings. At issue is the contention by jockey Oscar Ceballos and Eleanor Martin, the owner/breeder of Alotaluck (Sir Prancealot {Ire}), that some of the 11 strikes of the whip that Ceballos administered...

In what could be the first dual penalization of its kind, the stewards at Mountaineer Park have fined jockey Jose A. Leon for going over the six-strike whipping limit and also for "failure to give best effort" in the same 4 1/2-furlong sprint. Both alleged infractions occurred in an extremely narrow time frame during the stretch run of the second race on May 14. Leon, a 25-year-old who has been licensed since 2018, was aboard the 0-for-9 maiden Keto Friendly (Mastery), an 8-1 filly racing against males, who vied for...