Jockey wears wrong silks - decorated with Confederate flag

Jockey silks custodian Anthony Baze and owner William Wilbur will appear before stewards at Santa Rosa on Aug. 7 to answer a complaint filed by the California Horse Racing Board after the jockey of a horse part-owned by Wilbur wore the wrong silks in a race at the California State Fair on July 15.

According to the complaint, Baze "received financial consideration and conspired to aid and abet" Wilbur in having the jockey ride in the silks of another owner. Michael Martinez rode the horse, the first-time starter Mute Rudulph, while winning the fourth race that day.

The silks were emblazoned with facsimiles of the Confederate battle flag and are the registered silks of another owner. Wilbur's silks are purple and white with the initials "BW" emblazoned over black and white bars. The TVG production crew noticed the different silks and alerted racing officials.

The change was not reported to the clerk of the course before the start of the race, the complaint said.