Jockey Roman Chapa, 50, dies from bush track injuries

Roman Chapa, a journeyman jockey who was handed multiple penalties for using illegal foreign objects to spur horses on in races, died Tuesday after sustaining injuries in a March accident at a bush track in Georgia, according to social-media posts from his family. Chapa was 50.

Chapa, who rode 1,722 winners in 10,243 sanctioned U.S. races, was in a medically induced coma for 45 days after the accident, according to the social-media posts.

“Roman passionately cared about his family, his friends, his fellow riders, and anyone he saw was less fortunate than he was,” an unsigned notice of his death read. “He gave his money, his time, and his loving friendship to whoever he could.”

Chapa started his professional career in Texas in 1993 as a licensed apprentice at the age of 22, and he quickly established a reputation as a competent rider. A year later, he received his first penalty for being in possession of an illegal object, a violation that cost him nine months in the saddle.

Although he continued to ride with some success after returning to racing, Chapa was again suspended for being in possession of an “electrical device” in 2007 while riding at Sunland Park in New Mexico, this time for five years. He was reinstated in 2011.

Then, in 2015, a photo of a winning ride at Sam Houston Race Park in Texas showed Chapa once again with an electrical device in his hand. The track photographer notified the stewards, and Texas regulators suspended Chapa for five years and fined him $100,000.

In 2020, Chapa had his license reinstated in Texas, but major racetracks across the country refused to allow him to ride. He found sanctuary at Arapahoe Park in Colorado and Sweetwater Downs in Wyoming during the pandemic, and he made his last sanctioned start at Sweetwater on Sept. 9.