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What: “Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel”

Where: HBO, tonight, 10

The life of a jockey would appear to be glamorous and lucrative. But there is a flip side. To make weight, a lot of jockeys resort to self-induced vomiting. In horse racing, they call it “flipping.”

This practice is examined on this edition of “Real Sports.” Correspondent Bernard Goldberg calls it, “horse racing’s dirty little secret.”

Jockey Randy Romero, who retired in 1999 after a 20-year career and more than 4,000 victories, suffers from liver and kidney failure after years of flipping.

Romero says he would throw up three or four times a day. “I was so hungry all the time,” he says, “but I could keep no food in me because it would be too much weight.” Romero estimates five or six of every 10 jockeys flip.

Shane Shellers and Chris McCarron tell Goldberg they did it, and Laffit Pincay says he did at one time. McCarron says he has never admitted to it before. “Only my wife knew,” he says.

There is a movement underway to raise the weights, which were set a century ago. But not everyone is in favor. Trainer Wayne Lukas says, “We’re not asking these people to do it for a medal or anything. We’re asking them to do it for some serious cause, and I think if you want to use the word ‘sacrifice,’ they are going to have to make some of these sacrifices to perform. Or they should get another job. That may sound cold, but that’s reality.”

Jockey Pat Day says what is needed is more discipline and better diets. “I love Randy Romero,” he says, “but he could always be found in one of three places--on the track, in the kitchen, eating, or in the bathroom, flipping.”

This “Real Sports” edition includes segments on minor league owner Mike Veeck and former San Diego Padre Nate Colbert.