Friends, co-workers, and racetrack acquaintances of Allen Jerkens reflect on the man known as “The Chief,” who died Wednesday at 85.
ROBBIE DAVIS (jockey)
“Even when I didn’t ride one of his horses, he’d still yell at me. ‘When are you going to learn? Turn for home and put that stick in your left hand!’ What do you mean, Chief? I didn’t ride your horse. He said, ‘I watched you.’
LEXINGTON, Ky. – A committee of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission is scheduled to consider a rule next week that would allow tracks to write races that prohibit the use of the anti-bleeding medication furosemide within 24 hours of post time, according to material distributed by Kentucky horsemen’s groups.
The rule, which will be considered during a Rules Committee meeting scheduled for Monday, is nearly identical to an amendment brought before the committee last August. The committee voted 4-1 to table the proposal at that time, and it was not resurrected after that vote.
Roman Chapa, the Texas jockey suspended for five years for allegedly using an electrical device on a horse, was arrested Wednesday morning shortly before an arraignment on a felony charge of attempting to fix a race and charged with lying to investigators, according to Texas officials.
Hall of Fame trainer H. Allen Jerkens, a “Giant Killer” to some but simply a giant to most, died Wednesday in a south Florida hospital due to complications from an infection. He was 85.
Jerkens was hospitalized Feb. 28 with a urinary tract infection and battled for a couple of weeks before his condition worsened, according to his son, Jimmy Jerkens, also a trainer.
Turf Paradise announced that Jonathan Horowitz is the track’s new race caller as current announcer Michael Chamberlain is moving to Evangeline Downs in Louisiana. Chamberlain has been the voice of the Phoenix track since 2008. He previously was the race caller at Sam Houston Race Park in Texas for 11 years.
Riders at Parx racetrack outside of Philadelphia have reached a deal with track management in which they have agreed to limit any lawsuits against the track to local courts in exchange for the track addressing a handful of safety concerns raised by riders, according to officials involved in the deal.
ARCADIA, Calif. – There might not have been a tougher beat along the Kentucky Derby trail this year than Firing Line’s in the Robert B. Lewis Stakes on Feb. 7 here at Santa Anita. Firing Line earned the fastest Beyer Speed Figure of his career and finished more than 21 lengths in front of the field, with one notable exception – the big head of Dortmund.
The three finalists for the ninth annual Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award have been announced, with the winner to be revealed April 15.
The winner will earn a $10,000 prize along with a custom-designed Tipperary Crystal trophy depicting Castleton Lyons’s famed Irish round tower. Runners-up will receive checks for $1,000, plus trophies. Past winning authors have included Eclipse and National Book Award winners, a Pulitzer Prize nominee, a noted European sports writer, and renowned journalists at some of America’s premier newspapers and magazines.
The Jockey Club is again making $250,000 available to racetracks this year to use for out-of-competition testing of horses pointed to graded stakes races, the organization said on Wednesday.
This is the second year in which The Jockey Club has allotted $250,000 for out-of-competition testing, which is already conducted by racing commissions in a handful of states, including California, Indiana, Kentucky, New Jersey, and New York. The Jockey Club said the allotment will be limited to graded stakes that are scheduled for March 28 or later this year.
