Jockey Jimenez appeals one-year suspension
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Albin Jimenez, the jockey suspended for one year by stewards in Ohio in late August based on a second-place finish in a race at Belterra Park, has filed an appeal of the ruling and been granted a stay, according to officials involved in the case.
Jimenez, who was the leading rider at Belterra when the suspension was issued, is named on one horse at Horseshoe Indianapolis in Shelbyville, Indiana, in Friday’s sixth race. Jimenez has not ridden since Aug. 22, one day after the race that was cited by stewards for the one-year suspension.
Under Ohio racing rules, suspensions are immediately stayed if a rider files an appeal. Riley Ward, a Lexington, Ky.-based attorney for Jimenez, declined to comment on the basis for the appeal on Friday. A hearing date has not yet been scheduled, Ward said.
Jimenez’s agent, Bert Crawford, also declined to comment on Friday.
The stewards’ ruling cited Jimenez for a “failure to give his best effort to obtain a winning performance and conduct detrimental to the best interests of racing.” In the race, Jimenez finished second on the 7-10 favorite, Afleet Image, beaten three lengths by the 3.10-1 third choice in the field of five. The race had an $8,500 purse.
Thomas Drury, the trainer of Afleet Image who regularly employed Jimenez as a rider on his horses, reported the ride to the stewards. The jockey who rode the winner, Summer Pauly, an apprentice, appeared at the stewards’ hearing, but she was not cited for any violation.
Prior to his suspension, Jimenez had 83 wins on the year with purse earnings of $1.76 million, with 81 of those victories coming at Belterra, almost double the amount of victories for the next leading rider at the track. Jimenez has been riding since 2010, with career purse earnings of $35.1 million.
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