Responsibility

I found it interesting that while Jeremy Rose’s initial six-month suspension for whipping the mare Appeal to the City in the eye was cut in half on Tuesday, he was ordered to receive instruction on improving his whipping technique since, in addition to this incident, he has apparently been fined in Delaware three times in the past four years for excessive whip use. Former jockey and director of the Delaware Park Jockey Association testified that Rose has “horrific technique,” due in part to a lack of schooling in proper whip use. My question is, how could Rose have gotten this far in his career—most notably riding Afleet Alex—without someone taking him aside and telling him, “hey, bud” and explaining it to him. Whose responsibility would it be? The trainers he rode for? Other jockeys? His agent? A mentor? His mother? Or did someone try and he arrogantly ignored them? I don’t know the answer, but I can think of several other jockeys who need someone to sit them down for a similar talk. How about you? Who do you think is border-line abusive with the whip a little too often?

Apparently Jeremy Rose isn’t the only jockey with anger management issues either. Australian jockey Daniel Moor was suspended one week, fined $A1,000, and entered himself in anger management counseling after pleading guilty of improper conduct for a post-race tirade at Moonee Valley on July 12. His offense? Calling another apprentice jockey “a f*cking terrorist”—in front of three stewards. The target of his venom, Nick Mehmet, just happens to be of Cyprian descent, thus the apparent racial undertones were viewed as particularly offensive. While an apology was made and accepted, this isn’t Moor’s first offense. In fact, he’s been fined four other times over the past 15 months for, among other things, using inappropriate language in front of female apprentice Kate Dyson and shoving top jockey Blake Shinn. I'm not sure this is a guy I'd want up on my horses either.