N.Y. Jockey’s License Revoked; Board Says He Held Horse Back

The New York Racing and Wagering Board has indefinitely revoked the license of a jockey after finding he deliberately held back a horse in a race at Finger Lakes Race Track.

Joseph Badamo, 26, rode first-time starter Shine Please to a fourth-place finish in a Sept. 26 race at the thoroughbred track. The 4-year-old horse, picked to finish second, ran wide for most of the race, and Badamo dropped his whip.

Badamo had said the horse was unruly and difficult to handle.

“The excuse offered by Badamo is not credible and does not relieve him of responsibility to have done all he could to have won the race,” hearing officer John Dailey wrote in a recommendation to the board.

“His actions . . . were calculated to cause this mount to finish behind the first two horses in the race, if not worse,” Dailey said. “Such behavior by a jockey cannot be tolerated.”

James Napier, Badamo’s lawyer, said he plans to appeal the revocation in state Supreme Court.