Jumping at the Chance
“Rodney Trader has ridden races for 20 of his 36 years. But when he came to Kentucky this spring, it was as an exercise rider — someone who gets horses ready in the morning for someone else to ride in the afternoon.
“Yet horse racing is a game based on twists and unexpected turns. And last week, with Churchill embroiled in a controversy over accident insurance for jockeys, Trader began doing something he’d never experienced before: He rode in races under the shadow of the fabled Twin Spires.
“Trader can be called a replacement rider. And he sounds mystified that 14 jockeys would have refused to ride, especially given purses so lucrative a jockey can make as much on losing mounts as an exercise rider makes.” (Courier-Journal)
Related: “The inherent danger of an occupation does not mitigate the fact that jockeys are independent contractors without allegiance or contractual obligation. Life does not come with all expenses paid and this is the life they have chosen,” writes Paul Moran (Newsday); Matt Graves says, “Insurance for jockeys needs boost” (Times Union); and “Jockeys differ on walkout strategy” (Indy Star).
