The Long Silence is Finally Broken
Last week (it’s been busy around GbG manor!), I finally got my first response EVER from NYRA! Neema Ghazi, Marketing Director, messaged me directly at Facebook to answer the question posed last week or so.
Here was the question:
Question. I read the following in DRF today:
“The stewards fined jockey Norberto Arroyo Jr. $500 for striking his mount, Hanna Can Fly, twice in the face with his whip in Wednesday’s ninth race. Hanna Can Fly was on the lead early in the race, then backed up through the field to finish 10th.
The incident wasn’t that much different than the one for which Jeremy Rose received a six-month suspension last summer at Delaware Park. That suspension was reduced to three months.”
http://drf.com/news/article/99742.html
Can you please explain this ruling? I watched the race replay at Twinspires and could not see the incident. If it is similar to Jeremy Rose’s incident, in which he was suspended for 3 months (reduced from 6), can you also explain why Arroyo was only fined and not given any suspension?
Unfortunately the sense of satisfaction of having received an actual reply from NYRA was somewhat dashed by the fact that NYRA cannot publicly comment on Steward’s rulings. I then asked if players can view the NY Steward’s rulings but he didn’t believe that the rulings are published publicly. After a twirl around the New York State Racing and Wagering Board site, I’d have to agree.
He mentioned Hong Kong as an interesting model of transparency but noted that the level of transparency was demanded by the horseplayers. Could it be that simple? If we demanded that level of transparency we could get it here in New York? I’ve never demanded Steward’s rulings, although I’ve asked for them to be available online by way of SAFC. California has their Steward’s rulings available online… wanna see the minutes for the week of the Breeders’ Cup? No problem.
Between the rad difference in punishment across jurisdictions of Rose and Arroyo for seemingly similar incidences to the difference of no public record of Steward’s rulings in one jurisdiction vs. weekly minutes available for download in another, it should be interesting to see how the new Safety & Integrity Alliance deals with consensus building. I’m gonna try to do a longer post on the issue (and hope I didn’t just jinx it!).
Back to NYRA for a minute, Ghazi also assured me that he and his staff have been answering questions over the Facebook page, but answering them privately. Fair enough, but speaking of transparency… For now I’m just happy to have had an actual (ok, virtual) conversation with someone from NYRA. And please, please let these rumors be true (but I have to concur that Jan/Feb would be better)!
Posted by dana on Nov 18 2008
Filed Under: Industry, The Whip, Stewards, 2008, Internet, Jocks, NTRA, NYRA, Racing
(2 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
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Oddly enough, I wrote about this transparency/disclosure issue a few weeks back, and highlighted the CHRB website, including steward’s minutes, license searches, and live webcasts of CHRB meetings. The next day, I got the nicest email from Richard Shapiro, who had been forwarded my blog, and he reiterated the fact that CHRB prioritizes integrity and transparency, in addition to safety. How’s that for feedback! Another thing he hit on was the issue of funding - most (or all) state regulatory agencies are so strapped for cash that it’s hard to justify pulling money away from, say, drug testing, and putting it towards created an online database of stewards rulings. In a perfect world we’d have both. More here, I guess:
http://thoroughbredbrief.wordpress.com/2008/09/24/198/
I would make that a link if I were tech savvy.
And to continue a comment that’s already too long, I love the BHA (BHRA?) disciplinary page, especially the “Why they ran badly” section. “Stewards room:”
http://www.britishhorseracing.com/inside_horseracing/about/whatwedo/disciplinary/regulatory.asp
I love the whole British racing regulatory system, though.
Sorry for clogging up your comment page.
Great post Kerry! My new-ish strict filters at work have really curtailed my daytime blog reading so I miss a lot of good stuff.
Wow, I can’t even imagine having that “Why they ran badly” for say, Aqueduct… incredible.
Dana,
The stewards rulings at Laurel and Pimlico are posted in a clipboard on the wall in the press box office every single day. They are there for the taking by the media (um, me) to do with what I will. I can’t speak for Mike Gathagan or Rich Paul, but I would think they might read the rulings to fans who called to ask about them, if the asking was done in a polite manner. My newspaper does not publish the rulings, and I know few others that do unless they are truly notable. I check them, but not routinely, and will publish major rulings or write stories about them. I would be very surprised if the rulings were not public in New York. You do not want to get them from NYRA, however; rather, you should go to this site:
http://rulings.racing.state.ny.us/frm_Rulings.aspx
the rulings page of the New York State Racing and Wagering Board.
If you are unable to get a satisfactory explanation about rulings from NYRA or the board, and are unable to reach the stewards (you can call NYRA and say, “Hello, stewards please…”) then I suggest you call your friendly neighborhood newspaper racing beat writer (Jerry?) and ask him/her to find out what’s going on. Those reporters are supposed to be proxies for the public and if the request is reasonable, you would think they would find out the answer for you.
Have a nce weekend,
John
Well, well, well… here’s a ruling: John S., you rule!!
That rulings link was actually plain as day in the racing section, I missed it the first time as I went to search the rules section to see how the rules read for whipping. My bad!
The Arroyo ruling reads as follows:
So, if I called the stewards and asked them politely to explain the ruling, there’s a chance they’d do it?
I can’t speak for your stewards, but I think if you asked them really really kindly and didn’t abuse the privilege by nosing in every day, yeah, they might explain what the devil is going on. I find stewards, speaking in very general terms, to be the complete opposite of what I expect. Rather than righteous, vainglorious lords passing down judgment; they appear to be in humble service to the game. John Veitch, in my dealings, has been as gracious as they come. Same with the Maryland stewards. That doesn’t mean I don’t periodically stare at the replay monitor and scream, “What is wrong with these people!” …
As for your ruling that I rule, Dana, you have just made my Sunday.
– John