SHINING LIGHT ON THE HORSE INDUSTRY
Not sure why, but post-Thanksgiving week always gets me thinking about weight. Pretty sure I'm not alone. SMD LED Street Light
Between turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing and gravy – lots of gravy – I'd have had a hard time making weight if I was a jockey. Fortunately, I'm not.
Apparently, some Quarter Horse jockeys in Texas were also having trouble with weight recently — and this was before Thanksgiving dinners were served.
For reasons no one wanted to explain (including Jockeys' Guild CEO Terry Meyocks), riders at Lone Star Park abruptly walked off the job midway through the Nov. 11 Quarter Horse card.
Neither track officials, the Texas Racing Commission, nor the aforementioned Meyocks would provide any specifics on what happened.
A few days later, however, some of the issue came into focus when Amy Cook, the executive director of the Texas Racing Commission, issued an enforcement memorandum to all racing licensees stating that the regulatory body intended to enforce its rules.
“In the past few weeks,” Cook wrote, “specific concerns have been raised regarding compliance” with certain regulations. She then listed the following rules: 313.45 (duties of the clerk of scales), 313.161 (trainer responsibility for correct weight), 313.168 (scale of weights to be carried), 313.402 (weighing out before race, taken off if more than seven pounds over), 313.404 (items included in weight), 313.407 (duty to fulfill riding engagements).
Cook wrote that the agency “initiated an investigation in early September which is still under way. Accurately recording and publishing the weight of a jockey on a horse requires involvement and compliance from all levels of business and occupational licensees including, but not limited to racetrack association staff, horseman's organizations and owners and trainers of racehorses.”
My understanding of what happened is that a number of Quarter Horse jockeys were coming in significantly above their assigned weight – even more, in some cases, than the seven pounds over that would require them to be taken off their mounts. They were not happy when the clerk of scales informed them he intended to do his job and follow the rules of Texas racing.
Does weight matter, especially in a race at a quarter mile or less? That's not really the question. The question is whether or not the clerk of scales should look the other way if a jockey comes in heavy or waltzes across the scales so quickly that it's impossible to get an accurate reading.
The answer, obviously, is “no.” As long as there are rules, they should be enforced.
The clerk of scales is responsible for reporting accurate weights before and after a race. Did a jockey weigh out and in at roughly the same weight (keeping in mind they can pick up a pound or two in dirt and moisture during the running of a race)?
There should be no disagreements between the jockey colony and the clerk of scales. Both have jobs to do and the numbers are the numbers. But something I've seen occur routinely at Latin American racetracks would put to rest any conflict about proper weights carried.
Several tracks I've visited in Latin American countries have an ongoing in-house camera feed on the jockey scales, which have large digital numbers that are easily read.
When a race is over, and jockeys weigh in, they are required to stand on the scale long enough for the digital readout to appear. The camera feed displays the weight from the digital scale and it is shown in-house and on the track's simulcast network.
This takes the human element – and potential issues between jockeys and clerk of scales – out of the equation. Racing officials, owners and trainers, and horseplayers can see for themselves whether or not a horse carried the proper weight.
Some of racing's problems may be impossible to fix. This is not one of them. Let's adopt a transparent policy regarding jockey weight and move on to more important things. Like why my clothes are so tight after Thanksgiving.
That's my view from the eighth pole.
EquiSport Photos (Matt and Wendy Wooley)
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