CHRB orders Fipke to pay Rosario for lost BC Distaff mount

Prominent owner Charles Fipke has been ordered by the California Horse Racing Board to pay jockey Joel Rosario $110,000 as a result of a situation that developed last fall when Rosario was given the call to ride Forever Unbridled in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Del Mar, but was replaced days before the race by John Velazquez.

Forever Unbridled won the BC Distaff, earning $1.1 million in prize money.

Fipke was ordered last fall by Del Mar stewards Grant Baker, Scott Chaney, and Kim Sawyer to pay a double jockey mount to Rosario and Velazquez before the BC Distaff was run. Fipke later fought the stewards’ order, leading to an appeal in March before hearing officer Patrick Kane, a San Diego-based attorney.

Kane upheld the stewards’ order and presented his proposed decision to the racing board earlier this month. The racing board approved Kane’s decision in an executive hearing last week.

Last fall, Del Mar stewards determined Rosario had been given the call to ride Forever Unbridled by trainer Dallas Stewart only to be replaced by Velazquez at time of entry. The stewards determined that the late change from Rosario to Velazquez prevented Rosario from gaining a mount in the lucrative race.