Jockey Dominguez Is Cleared

There will be no fine or suspension for Ramon Dominguez, the jockey whose sharp whipping of Scrappy T almost caused Preakness winner Afleet Alex to go down in the stretch at Pimlico last Saturday.

“Dominguez hit the horse left-handed, and the horse ducked out,” Bill Passmore, a former jockey and one of three Pimlico racing stewards, said Thursday. “I’ve seen horses hit a hundred times that way and not move, so this was just one of those things. He was trying to win, and he didn’t break any rules. If Dominguez had dreamt that his horse would have reacted that way, I’m sure he wouldn’t have hit him.”

Passmore said he and the other stewards planned to talk to Dominguez about the race, but that a review of the race film convinced the stewards that Dominguez shouldn’t be penalized.

Tim Ritchey, who trains Afleet Alex, blamed Dominguez for whipping his horse at the wrong time. Coming out of the turn for home, Scrappy T veered sharply to the right when Dominguez struck him hard from the left side; Afleet Alex ran up onto Scrappy T’s heels, but he and his jockey, Jeremy Rose, managed to keep their balance and go on to a 4 3/4 -length win.

Dominguez said he hit Scrappy T because the horse had been distracted and he was trying to regain his attention.

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-- Bill Christine