Horse racing fans are calling for a lifetime ban after one jockey was caught brutally hitting a horse in the head. The shocking incident happened at the end of a race. Although he won the race at Parx Racecourse in Pennsylvania, jockey Paco Lopez got angry at his mount National Law.
He ended up striking the horse across the neck with his whip. During the race, the mount ended up drifting to the outside rail. But the jockey maintained his lead and won the race. Still, it didn't protect the animal from his wrath. The jockey garnered a bunch of backlash with many calling for a lifetime ban.
Billionaire racing boss Mike Repole said that he should get a £20,000 fine. He wrote, "The actions today of veteran jockey Paco Lopez were completely, totally unacceptable, inexcusable and reprehensible. There is no place for this in our sport. This is why racing needs a national governing body and jurisdiction that reviews all of these important matters immediately and can act on them promptly."
Jockey Gets Criticized
He continued, "We all know how dangerous this sport is for jockeys and have the utmost respect for the job they do and the risks they take EVERY day on EVERY mount, and I recognise the horse's erratic behavior in the race. That said, I call on the Stewards to take immediate action. As Commissioner, I strongly recommend, effective immediately, a 90-day suspension and a $25,000 (£20,000) fine."
It's not the first time the jockey got in trouble. Lopez has 10 previous HISA whip violations over his whip use. Parx Racing track announcer Jessica Paquette said, "It's never okay to react out of frustration towards a horse. It doesn't serve any productive purpose from a training or safety perspective. More now than ever, we have to be better."
Other fans criticize the rider. One wrote, "Paco Lopez. Completely unacceptable. Shouldn't be around horses, period." Another wrote, "That's animal abuse plain and simple. He just hit the horse out of anger. I hope decent horse owners take note and refuse to give him mounts. He should be suspended but let's not leave it up to the track officials let's get an owners ban going against Paco."
However, trainer Jorge Duarte, Jr. defended him. He wrote, "Jockeys are the toughest athletes.We have mental health involved already anyone who saw the whole stretch run would say Paco was outstanding keeping the horse safe. We need to focus on things that matter."
