Desormeaux meets with stewards on reinstatement
DEL MAR, Calif. – Kent Desormeaux, the Hall of Fame jockey who has not ridden since Jan. 23 owing to various transgressions, met with Del Mar’s stewards on Friday in an attempt to get reinstated, stewards said Friday afternoon.
Desormeaux, 52, has been officially unable to ride since March 3, when he failed to appear before the Santa Anita stewards for a scheduled hearing; a suspension was issued March 4.
According to Del Mar stewards Luis Jauregui and Kim Sawyer, who along with Grant Baker met with Desormeaux Friday, the Friday hearing addressed Desormeaux’s failure to appear on March 3, his violation of terms of a contract with the Winners Foundation related to substance abuse, and a disturbance related to alleged alcohol use in the RV park at Del Mar during the fall meeting here.
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The Winners Foundation assists racetrack personnel with substance-abuse issues. Desormeaux was put under its purview following an incident in Del Mar’s RV park in the summer of 2020, when he used a racial pejorative toward a Black cameraman. At that time, Desormeaux was immediately removed from Del Mar by track officials, and the stewards later suspended him for 15 days for aggressive behavior and disorderly conduct.
Roger Licht, an attorney who is a former chairman of the California Horse Racing Board, represented Desormeaux at the hearing, stewards said. Stewards said they could decide on Desormeaux’s status by the end of the weekend or early next week.
Desormeaux has won 6,116 races in North America during his career, including three victories in the Kentucky Derby, three in the Preakness, one Belmont, and six in Breeders’ Cup races. He is a three-time Eclipse Award winner.
Desormeaux won just 29 races from 210 mounts in 2020, was 53 for 353 during a resurgent 2021, and was 4 for 31 this year before being arrested Jan. 28 in his native Louisiana on charges of domestic abuse battery/strangulation.