JC / Railbird

Jockeys’ Insurance Archive

Guild Owes Jockeys $440K

Every bit of news that comes out about the state of the Jockeys’ Guild post-Wayne Gertmenian points to an organization in a deepening crisis. This week, Liz Mullen of Sports Business Journal reports that the Guild owes jockeys $440,000 because its former management used members’ savings accounts to fund operating expenses. Guild attorney Barry Broad, who has accused Gertmenian of leaving the Guild in “financial shambles,” said only $200,000 remains in the organization’s operating account as of last week, which means the Guild is in the red $240,000 just in money owed to riders. (Never mind the unpaid office rent and health insurance premiums or Gary Birzer’s lawsuit.) “The problem now is if everybody wanted their money back at once, the Guild would probably be bankrupt,” said Broad. [Thanks to Robert Colton for the pointer to Mullen’s article.]

Posted in Jockeys' Insurance on November 29, 2005

A Less Than Graceful Exit

The Jockeys’ Guild fired president Wayne Gertmenian following an emergency meeting of the Guild Senate on Tuesday, and the disgraced professor didn’t take his dismissal well. It was reported earlier this week that Gertmenian and similarly ousted Guild vice president Albert Fiss scuffled with jockeys at the Guild’s offices on Tuesday and now there are allegations that Gertmenian wrote checks totaling $217,000 to himself and other “employees” of his consulting company, Matrix Capital Associates, on the same day that he was fired, despite a hold that had been placed on checks larger than $200 drawn on the Guild account. No charges have been filed in Tuesday’s altercation, but police are investigating the checks. “It may be embezzlement or it may be something they were entitled to,” said Monrovia police lieutenant Richard Wagnon. Given that Gertmenian testified in the first congressional hearing on jockeys’ insurance held in October that he was the only employee of Matrix, which was contracted to manage the Guild, it’s difficult to imagine how the apparent money-grab could be construed as a legitimate business act.
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The House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held its second hearing on jockeys’ insurance on Thursday and took testimony from racetrack operators and horsemen on the issue. Representative Ed Whitfield, who chaired the hearing, said federal legislation could be necessary to impose standard safety and insurance requirements across the industry. “A lot of interest groups do not want their turf touched, … [but] there are a lot of strong arguments for some uniformity and for some federal oversight and involvement,” said Whitfield. Racing executives disagree: “Trying to get a one-size-fits-all solution could be damaging,” said TRA vice president Christopher Scherf.

Posted in Jockeys' Insurance on November 18, 2005

Another Call for Dr. G’s Removal

A group of permanently disabled Jockeys’ Guild members, troubled by the disappearance of the disabled jockeys’ fund and the unsatisfactory answers given by Guild officials to questions about the organization’s management, have sent an open letter to the Guild’s board of directors calling for the removal of president Wayne Gertmenian and the reinstatement of former manager John Giovanni in his stead:

An emergency meeting of the Guild Senate to discuss management has been scheduled for November 15 and more than 200 jockeys across the country have signed petitions calling for a change in leadership. Asked if he had any intention of stepping down, Gertmenian said, “I promised everybody as I went around the country the heat would fall on my head and I wouldn’t quit.” How noble.

Posted in Jockeys' Insurance on November 11, 2005