John Velazquez Suspended Three Days for Careless Riding at Saratoga
Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez, the winningest rider in Saratoga Race Course history, will serve a three-day suspension for careless riding this coming Sunday, Wednesday, and Thursday. The penalty stems from a disqualification in the sixth race at Saratoga on Aug. 17.
Velazquez waived his right to appeal according to an Aug. 20 stewards’ ruling posted on the New York State Gaming Commission website.
The incident occurred during a $100,000 maiden special weight turf route for 2-year-olds. Velazquez piloted first-time starter Scope (Gun Runner), the 6.5-1 fourth choice in a five-horse field. Although Scope crossed the finish line first, stewards placed him second following both a jockey’s objection and stewards’ inquiry into the stretch run.
The beneficiary of the disqualification was stablemate Teleport (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}), the 3-2 favorite who originally finished second under Irad Ortiz Jr.
According to the Equibase chart, Scope “took the inside route into upper stretch, tipped out to the three path nudging Dynadee at the three-sixteenths, rallied to latch on the leader Teleport a furlong out, got bumped solidly by that rival coming out under a left-handed crop and continued under a drive despite it, was put to a right-handed crop and came in bumping Teleport solidly inside the sixteenth marker, then inched away to the finish to prevail.”
The unusual circumstance created a rare situation for trainer Todd Pletcher, who conditions both horses involved in the inquiry.
“If I have [experienced this before], I don’t remember,” Pletcher told TDN‘s Mike Kane after the race.
Pletcher described the contest as “kind of a peculiar-run race, very slow early. I think [Teleport] was a little bit green by himself [on the lead]. And then obviously some baby stuff going on down the lane. I was happy with the performance of both colts. You hate to have one disqualified, but sometimes that’s the way it goes.”
The veteran trainer characterized Scope as “a big rangy colt” who’s been “training okay on the dirt. We felt like the main thing for him was he needed distance. I thought he kicked in really well, showed a nice turn of foot for a big horse.”
The ruling ultimately gave Pletcher a one-two finish with his trainees, though not in the order they crossed the wire.
It was a TAP exacta in R6 at Saratoga! 💪
After a stewards inquiry and jockey's objection, Teleport was moved up to first place over stablemate Scope.
