Santana seeking to serve suspension sooner

Ricardo Santana Jr., the leading rider at Oaklawn Park’s just-concluded meet, has asked the Arkansas Racing Commission for approval to serve a portion of a 21-day suspension during the remainder of this year rather than at the start of next year’s Oaklawn meet, according to his agent.

Ruben Munoz, the agent, said that Santana was recently handed 15 days of suspensions in three separate rulings for careless riding, to add onto a three-day suspension from last year that was stayed at the beginning of the meet and a three-day suspension handed out at the beginning of the meet for the total of 21 days. The Oaklawn stewards are currently requiring Santana to serve all the dates at next year’s meet, according to Munoz.

“I told [the racing commission] we should be able to serve out some of those days this year at other tracks,” Munoz said. “I’m not going to take every single one of those dates at the meet next year. You’re talking about sitting my rider for an entire month.”

Santana won 80 races from 362 mounts at this year’s Oaklawn meet to easily lead the jockeys’ standings. On Saturday, the meet’s closing day, he won the Arkansas Derby on Creator, who is now being pointed to the Kentucky Derby on May 7.

The suspensions will not affect whether Santana can ride in the Kentucky Derby or in any other stakes races, Munoz said, citing a long-standing practice in which jockeys can file for exemptions for mounts in major stakes races.

“There’s no way any stakes race is going to be jeopardized in any way,” Munoz said.

Officials of the Arkansas Racing Commission did not respond to phone calls Monday.

Although some racetracks or racing jurisdictions hand out suspensions to jockeys without specifying where or when the dates must be served, others are adamant about riders serving the dates at the track or in the state where the infractions occurred. Thoroughbred racing in Arkansas is only conducted at Oaklawn Park.

Munoz said that Santana has retained an attorney to speak with the Arkansas Racing Commission’s legal counsel about the request.