Re: Borel, Desormeaux, Talamo, Delahoussaye, Guidry, etc..Louisiana Jockeys!
Louisiana Jockeys Deserve Pay Increase
Mar 9th, 09
Louisiana jockeys haven't seen an increase in losing mount fees in about 30 years.
Jockeys have been going to the whip across the country in an effort to gain pay increases.
This month, a new jockeys' pay scale went into effect at Charles Town in West Virginia. For riding a horse that finishes out of the money at that track, the jockey receives $75 on the low end of a scale based on race purses, and $105 on the high end. Previously, the minimum jockey's fee for an out-of-the-money finish was $45.
A similar increase recently was announced for jockeys who will be riding this year at Prairie Meadows in Iowa. Other states where jockeys' fees for out-of-the-money finishes have increased are California, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Florida, Indiana and Arizona.
Louisiana is among the states where negotiations are under way, and it's about time.
A boost in Louisiana mount fees is long overdue.
The Louisiana jockeys' fee schedule last was changed in 1990, when jockeys on the second- and third-place finishers began receiving 5 percent of the purse money for such finishes instead of fixed fees. The winning jockey receives 10 percent of the first-place share of the purse.
It has been about 30 years since the losing mount fees (for out-of-the-money finishes) were increased in Louisiana.
The greater the purse, the greater the losing mount fee. For example, if the purse is from $5,000 to $9,999, the losing mount fee in Louisiana is $40. If the purse is from $10,000 to $14,999, the losing mount fee is $45. Those fees progress to $50, $60, $75 and $100 as the purses rise.
Horse owners pay jockeys' fees. In these tough economic times, owners' bills for just about everything - training, horse-shoeing, veterinary work and other expenses - are rising.
But riders have expenses, too. Jockeys have to pay their valets and agents. Riders have to buy their own insurance. They don't have pensions. They don't get guaranteed money, like other professional athletes do. And, riding racehorses is very dangerous.
"Everything has escalated,'' said John Beech, regional manager for the Jockeys' Guild. "The day rates (for trainers) went up. The feed went up. Everything, except for the jockeys. Every time we ask for something, it's not a good time. We want to be fair. Other states have gone up.''
In December, Beech, accompanied by several jockeys, made the case before the Louisiana State Racing Commission, which has the authority to change the pay scale.
Chairman Jerry Meaux called for a committee, composed of himself, Beech, horse owners, jockeys, Louisiana Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association representatives, commissioners and commission officials to try to hammer out an agreement. The committee met last month.
"I want to commend the commission and all parties involved to try to get this resolved,'' said Beech, who thanked Meaux for forming the committee.
Meaux said: "I was trying to let everybody have a say, and everybody at the meeting agreed to a number. We all agreed to a change. We went up.''
Beech said that although the committee reached an agreement, he knew that the proposed revised pay scale wouldn't be acceptable to a majority of the state's jockeys. In his visits to riders across the state, he learned he was right. The jockeys rejected the proposal, and Beech informed the commission. He has yet to present a new pay scale for the commission to consider.
"I don't know what they're going to do,'' Meaux said.
The debate mainly concerns losing mount fees at the lower end of the purse scale.
"The guys who ride the 30-1s, the 40-1s, they still have to feed their families,'' said veteran jockey Kerwin Clark, who was on the committee. "It'll make a huge difference to them. It'll help everybody, but it'll help them the most.''
Beech said the argument that jockeys have received pay raises whenever purses have gone up doesn't hold water, because the losing mount fees have stayed fixed.
Meaux said: "How much can an owner take? How much can you take from him? I don't think anybody has got a problem with the top end (of the scale). There are no new owners. If you run some out, what do you have? Everybody agrees something has to be done. The owners want equity. We (the commission) have to represent the owners, trainers and the jocks. We want to be fair with everybody.''
LHBPA President Sean Alfortish, who participated in the committee meeting via telephone, said that because Louisiana has more racing days and fuller fields than other states, jockeys here have more opportunities to make money.
"My personal opinion, not my presidential opinion, is I'm not opposed to having a raise for the riders,'' said Alfortish, a horse owner. "I am opposed to the amount of the raise that some riders want. You have to balance the equity of the industry. You have to balance what the riders want with what the owners can afford.''
Complicating the debate in Louisiana is quarter horse racing, which generally has smaller purses than thoroughbred racing. Quarter horse jockeys in the state are paid under the same scale as thoroughbred jockeys and generally receive losing mount fees of $35 to $45, Beech said. "These guys put everything on the line that thoroughbred jockeys do,'' he said.
Clark said he's confident that the issue will be settled. "It's very negotiable from where we started at,'' he said. "Another $20, $25 would have made it right. It'll get there.''
"I don't know what's going to happen,'' Meaux said. "It's kind of in their court.''
Said Beech: "We just want to be fair with the industry and the horsemen, but they have to be fair with us, too.''
