ELMONT, N.Y. – The start of Saturday’s stakes-filled 11-race card at Belmont Park was delayed more than 30 minutes when the jockeys called for a meeting with track management over a number of health and safety issues about a half-hour before scheduled first post. The first race went off at 2:07 p.m., 37 minutes later than scheduled. Post for the Grade 1 Man o’ War - the last of 11 races on the card - originally scheduled for 6:50, was rescheduled for 7:22 p.m. The Jockeys’ Guild and the New York Racing Association - which operates Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga - have been working without a contract since Jan. 1. The contract deals with health and safety policies and other issues including the scale of weights, which the jockeys have been seeking to raise. The riders met with NYRA president Chris Kay and Martin Panza, vice president of racing operations for NYRA, for about an hour in the jockey’s room. The meeting was going on while horses were in the paddock for the first race and horsemen and bettors were left wondering what was going on. John Velazquez, the chairman of the Jockeys’ Guild and a regular rider on this circuit, said the jockeys did not threaten not to ride the card and the timing of the meeting was “to get their attention,” he said. “The guys were all here, we needed to have a conversation with them, we called them before the races and the conversation went much longer than we anticipated,” Velazquez said. “There are lot of issues involved. We don’t have a contract. Obviously, with not having the contract and those issues not being resolved, they need to be addressed. “It was never a thought of not riding,” Velazquez added. “We’re here to ride, we want to make sure things get done.” Panza said NYRA was “caught off guard” that the jockeys wanted to meet 30 minutes prior to post to discuss issues that haven’t been resolved over five months. “We negotiate with the Jockey’s Guild, we thought that was [president] Terry Meyocks and their attorney, and the last time I talked to Terry he said 'Let’s let the attorneys handle it,' so that wasn’t really the most professional way to handle it,” Panza said of the Saturday meeting. Among the issues that the jockeys wanted to discuss was raising the minimum scale of weights to 118 pounds. Panza said that the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association needs to offer an opinion on the weight issue. He also believes this should be addressed nationally and not just at one racetrack. “The jocks were in there saying it’s for their health, well then, it should be for every jockey in America’s health, not just here or in California,” Panza said. Another issue has to deal with concussion protocols. On Saturday morning, during training hours, jockey Jose Lezcano suffered a concussion when he was unseated by a horse he was working on the Belmont Park turf course. Only one emergency medical technician tended to Lezcano, who was transported to a nearby hospital. “That’s all part of the contract,” Velazquez said. Panza said that NYRA, even without a contract, is still paying the Guild for a catastrophic insurance policy in case of a catastrophic accident at the track. “That’s not an easy policy to place,” Panza said. “We pay for it and it’s a six-figure number.” Panza said NYRA is “probably one of the largest contributors to jockeys in the country when you add all the stuff up.” Both Panza and Velazquez said they felt progress was made on some issues. Still, Panza left the meeting frustrated. “It’s unfortunate they don’t talk to their leadership first, or their leadership doesn’t give us a heads-up because that’s who we’re negotiating with – at least that’s who we thought we were negotiating with,” Panza said. “Apparently, now we’re going to talk to the jocks and maybe we can get a deal done with the jocks. It might be easier that way.”