Stewards decline to sanction Desormeaux for Saturday ride
DEL MAR, Calif. – Del Mar’s stewards voted not to fine or suspend Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux for his ride in Saturday’s fourth race aboard the favored What a View, who was caught right on the wire by Professor Berns. To some observers, Desormeaux appeared to stop riding aggressively before the finish and then rose in the saddle as the horses got to the finish.
In a majority decision, Del Mar stewards Kim Sawyer and Tom Ward voted for no penalty, while steward Scott Chaney voted to penalize Desormeaux. They came to their decisions after meeting with Desormeaux on Sunday.
“We had Kent in, went over the video extensively, and did not feel there was enough evidence on the video” to penalize, said Ward.
Ward added that he believed the pan shot of the race showed What a View trying to pull himself up at the sixteenth pole after making the lead.
Sawyer agreed that there should be no sanction, saying she believed Desormeaux’s testimony that What a View was trying to “get out.”
“He felt he was doing all he could,” Sawyer said.
Sawyer said Desormeaux told the stewards that he wished in hindsight that he had hit What a View once left-handed. Sawyer also said Desormeaux was reminded about past transgressions in matters similar to this. He has been cited going back more than 20 years for not riding to the finish.
Chaney did not agree with his colleagues. “You win some, you lose some,” he said.
Chaney said the minutes filed to the California Horse Racing Board – which are available on the CHRB’s website – would reflect the different opinions of the stewards on this incident.
Desormeaux, 45, is required to submit to a breathalyzer test before riding every day, stewards said. That policy was put in place here in July after Desormeaux was removed from mounts midway through a card for registering blood-alcohol readings of 0.047 and 0.041, according to racing board documents.
For that incident, Desormeaux was fined $2,500 and suspended 30 days, though the suspension was stayed unless he has a similar violation through February 2018, when his current license expires.