A proposal that would require owners to provide the financial bonus of a single stallion season to California-based jockeys who ride colts or horses that win Grade 1 races in the state was discussed by the California Horse Racing Board’s jockey and driver welfare committee for the second time this year on Wednesday, but was met with pushback from some committee members and a leading executive of the sport. The potential rule will be discussed by the full racing board at a meeting on Thursday, but is months away from a formal proposal. Racing board vice chairman Oscar Gonzales, who chairs the jockey and driver committee, first presented the idea in May as a way to reward riders for winning the sport’s biggest Thoroughbred races in the state. Gonzales said on Wednesday the intent is to lure leading riders to California at a time when other circuits are offering higher prize money on a daily basis and more racing days each week, and to restore a practice in which winning riders of the most prestigious races were occasionally awarded a breeding season as a bonus by generous owners. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match and FREE Formulator PPs! Join DRF Bets. “We want to make this the norm and not the exception,” he said. Gonzales presented an example that riders who win Grade 1 races in California, which have purses ranging from $300,000 to $1 million, face considerable costs related to paying agents and valets, bonuses for the stable staff of the winning horse, and tax obligations, all of which can severely affect big-race earnings. Under the proposal, the only riders eligible for a breeding season would be jockeys who ride 100 or more races a year in California, a clause that would eliminate riders from other states or countries. The proposal would apply to Breeders’ Cup races when those races are held in California, although many of those eligible races are won by riders based outside of California. Bill Nader, the recently appointed president of the Thoroughbred Owners of California, said the proposal could cost a California-based jockey a mount on a Grade 1 horse sent to the state by an out-of-state owner or trainer who chooses to employ a rider from another circuit. “We can debate that back and forth,” he said. “It’s all speculative. Our fear is that could be real.” Nader expressed concern that under the proposal a race such as the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby for 3-year-olds in early April could lose a leading candidate to a Kentucky Derby prep in another state that does not have a breeding season bonus for winning riders. Nader urged the committee to focus immediate efforts on improved financing for health and welfare funds for all jockeys and backstretch employees, which was also discussed at length at Wednesday’s meeting. “In terms of timing and priority, we would prefer to address the funding shortfall,” Nader said. Committee members Damascus Castellanos and Thomas Hudnut spoke against the breeding season proposal, calling for greater study. “There are too many cons that I’m looking at,” Castellanos said. “I don’t see any positive-ness right now. The idea is right. The layout is not all there for me.” Hudnut expressed surprise that no jockeys or representatives of the Jockeys’ Guild attended Wednesday’s meeting. He described the breeding season bonus as a “tax”, a point that Gonzales refuted. :: Get Daily Racing Form Past Performances – the exclusive home of Beyer Speed Figures “I don’t think this is a tax,” Gonzales said. “This is putting into place a gesture and understanding that has been around for a long time. It has gone away. I believe we do have the authority.” The committee spent 35 minutes discussing proposed legislation that would eliminate an $800,000 deficit for health and welfare programs for jockeys and backstretch employees. Part of the funding provides routine health care for backstretch employees. Funding for such programs has been derived from uncashed mutuel tickets bought at racetracks and simulcast locations, but the amounts have declined rapidly in recent years with the migration of handle to account wagering sources. The committee has written proposed legislation to improve financing for welfare programs that could be introduced in the early months of 2023, pending revisions. “We don’t want to cut services and that is around the corner if we don’t do better,” said Cliff Goodrich, the president of the California Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Foundation that administers backstretch healthcare. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.