Judge Hears Jockeys’ Case

Five Kentucky Derby jockeys appeared to have gained ground before a federal judge Monday in their battle with the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority over wearing advertising in the race Saturday.

John G. Heyburn II, presiding at a hearing in U.S. District Court here, questioned racing authority lawyers about the motive behind the state rule that applies to advertising. The rule gives the authority permission to disallow advertising if it is “not in keeping with the traditions of the turf.”

Attorneys for the racing authority, which replaced the Kentucky Racing Commission last year, told the court that advertising on the jockeys’ white riding pants could obstruct stewards when they analyzed foul claims.

“The regulation doesn’t seem to be designed for that reason,” Heyburn said at the end of the 5 1/2-hour hearing. “If that reason was on anybody’s mind when they wrote the rule, I’d like to know. But all you’ve shown me today is that you put the rule on the books and intend to enforce it. Unless you can show me something else, that won’t cut it.”

Jerry Bailey, Jose Santos, John Velazquez, Shane Sellers and Alex Solis are the jockeys seeking an injunction that would enable them to forge advertising deals. All but Solis, who was in California, testified. The jockeys said they would be paid $30,000 apiece to carry advertising in the Derby and that the fee could grow to an estimated $250,000 for a rider whose horse swept the Triple Crown. The jockeys’ attorneys maintain that their clients’ 1st Amendment rights are being violated.

Heyburn said he would hear the attorneys’ closing arguments today, then rule on an injunction.

Bailey, who will ride Wimbledon in the Derby, testified that he had worn advertising at tracks in California, New York and Florida. He said he had recently been given permission to put an ad on his pants by officials at Keeneland, in Lexington, Ky., but that they, apparently unaware of the regulation, were overruled by the stewards.

“There’s no way an advertising logo can interfere with the stewards’ review of a foul claim,” Bailey said. “When you ride on a muddy track, the mud on your pants covers up a white set of breeches more than any ad would. The stewards have got so much technology when they look at an objection, that they can see every hair on your 5 o’clock shadow.”

Churchill Downs, cooperating with the racing authority, has told the jockeys that they would be evicted from the track if they tried to wear advertising on Derby day. Other advertising is widespread at the track. Visa is the sponsor of the Triple Crown series.

Bailey and two other jockeys wore ads on their pants in last year’s Belmont Stakes.

Bailey pointed out that he’d worn advertising on his pants at Hollywood Park, a track owned by Churchill Downs.

“I’ve ridden wearing ads in places like Saratoga and Royal Ascot,” he said, referring to tracks in New York and England. “I don’t think you have any greater traditions than the ones at tracks like those.”

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Sellers was one of 14 jockeys who wore Jockeys’ Guild patches on their pants at last year’s Derby. The riders were fined $500 apiece but have appealed the penalties.

Sellers will be riding The Cliff’s Edge, the probable morning-line favorite in the Derby. Sellers said that if a jockey rides a horse whose mount finishes fourth or worse in the $1-million Derby, his net pay will be about $56. Winning jockeys customarily earn 10% of the horse’s purse.

“There are 58 riders who are permanently disabled, and the guild helps support them,” Sellers said. “An ex-jockey recently came to me and said they had turned out his lights because he couldn’t afford to pay the electric bill. I gave him the money so he could get the lights back on. I wore the patch out of the respect for the riders who have given their lives on the track and for those who are disabled. This is an $18-billion-a-year industry, and it gives only $2.5 million to the jockeys.”