JC / Railbird

Social Issues

Case-by-Case

Daniel Ross reports on how horse racing is handling domestic violence:

Unlike the NFL, where the sport’s awesome revenue-generating capacity appears to be a driving factor behind their decision to initially go easy on Rice, horse racing is perceived as a different sort of beast, the close-knit confines of the racetrack and the familial atmosphere it can foster seem to have a noticeable impact on the way in which jockeys charged or convicted with domestic violence are treated within the sport.

In 2010 for example, Albarado’s mounts garnered over $10m in collected earnings. In 2011, the year of his first domestic abuse charges, his mounts earned a little over half that. In 2012, his business had been more than halved. The past two years, however, have seen a gradual uptick in his earnings once more, though not to 2010 levels.

California is leading on the issue, just by talking about it.

Posted in Racing on May 14, 2015 / Tagged Jockeys, Social Issues