“The provisional suspension will proceed under an expedited timeline through HISA’s adjudication process.”
What a bully, that sucks for the youngster who gave him a check by winning the damn race. If I were the owner/trainer I would be pissed. And how brazen to do it right there for all to see.
Rider needs a good whack up side his head for that, and hopefully the trainer takes a good look at that lovely colts soundness. Often there’s a soundness issue that causes running out like that IME.
That was absolutely disgusting.
I read Mike Repole said (before the suspension was announced) that if he was not allowed to remove Lopez from an upcoming ride he would scratch his horse from the race. Not really a Repole fan but I appreciated that statement.
What I find awful are the comments on fb saying…‘horse was ok’…‘have you ridden a 2 year old running out towards the rail what would you do’. Clearly that was anger and retaliation, nothing corrective about it. I don’t care what was going on in Lopez’s life/day whatever. There is no excuse for that. None at all.
I wonder how long he will be set down. That was completely inexcusable.
I looked hard, several times at the video, trying to see if the colt was doing something wrong at the moment he was hit. Nothing.
What a mean thing to do to that colt. I think Lopez needs some anger management classes. Probably always has.
The strike was too late to be a deterrent or a correction. It was a blow just because the jockey was pissed. And it actually didn’t even to seem to faze the colt. What a nasty reaction to a young horse getting carried away with himself. I’d like to give that jock a whack.
For a bite, a kick, and/or a runout, the reaction has to be immediate. I suspect the rider wanted to do it earlier but was afraid of throwing the horse off its stride.
The colt learned nothing from that crack to the neck and Lopez knows it.
I know zero about racing, but how many suspensions can a jockey get before they are permanently banned? Especially the ones for unsafe riding that caused injuries, not to mention all the rest.
Whoa, the article says he is suspended indefinitely. He has to get counseling and that’s a good thing. I hope he can work out his reactionary behavior, I’d hate to see him lose his career. While I detest what he did, I detest the trainers, owners, etc that drug their horses so much more.
I’m glad he’s getting help. It is a tough and stressful job. However, when you are in a stressful job that puts you in power and control of other creatures you need to know when to step away and either regroup or find a new job.
I’ve seen medical professionals lose their compassion for patients and a friend in LE become jaded and angry. When and if that happens it can’t be allowed to continue, they need to step back.
I get why people burnout when their jobs expose them to people at their worst. LE friend was a homicide detective for the last three decades of his career. What he had to deal with was horrific.
I don’t know what Lopez’s problem is, but I’m glad he has been forced to address it.
I know what Lopez problem was. His ride kept leaning outside. The part of the horse to be tapped should have been the outside shoulder, that was the truly offending part.
This tendency should have been addressed in the horse’s early training. Jockeys do not have the leg length in their position to reach that shoulder.
Truly, the horse learned nothing.
I hope the suspension is not too long.
10 previous whip violations??!! He needs to be banned.
Hard to say based just on that, without knowing what the actual infractions were.
Interesting comparisons in the BloodHorse article:
Read the above Blood-Horse article.
The whipping incident is the tip of the iceberg. Was it appalling? Yes. But Lopez has been a reckless rider for years and has caused catastrophic injuries to horses and other jockeys.
I hope he finds a different career.
I hope people will read it because if they don’t know his history of causing devastating inuries of other jockeys and their horses, they should, and he’s not the only “top” jockey out there that rides dangerously.
I hope HISA can make a difference before another jockey or another horse is seriously injured or killed.
Yes!
And again, any whip violation pales in comparison to the injuries to horses and riders that he has caused.
I’m decidedly unimpressed by big name owners backing away from him now. They shouldn’t have been riding him before this incident.