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Jockeys’ Insurance Archive

Jockeys’ Guild president L. Wayne Gertmenian publicly answered questions for the first time about his qualifications, sort of: “Gertmenian’s resume says that he was chief detente negotiator in Moscow and an emissary to Tehran during the Nixon and Ford administrations. It also says that Gertmenian was a board member of the Far East Foundation and West Coast Bancorp. None of those claims could be substantiated by official archivists at the Nixon and Ford libraries or by the Far East Foundation and West Coast Bancorp.
“When asked on Thursday to explain the discrepancies, Gertmenian said, ‘It’s all valid.’ When asked why the records did not indicate that the positions in the Nixon and Ford administration even existed, he repeated, “It’s all valid,” and added, ‘Leave it at that.'” Gertmenian, who is among those pressing tracks for increased insurance coverage for jockeys, has become a polarizing figure in the industry as questions about his management of the Guild and professional experience have been raised. (Daily Racing Form)
Related: “Tracks prepared for possible jockey strike on Sunday” (Thoroughbred Times)

“Horses were Remi Gunn’s life, and they were almost her death.” A mid-race accident at Ellis Park in 2003 not only left Gunn paralyzed, but destitute. (Lexington Herald-Leader)

“Churchill Downs Inc. yesterday asked the national Jockeys’ Guild to account for $1.25 million its racetracks have given the riders’ organization over the past three years. In a letter to L. Wayne Gertmenian, the guild’s president and chief executive since 2001, Churchill Downs racetrack President Steve Sexton requested that the guild’s response be certified by an independent accountant and received by Tuesday.” (Courier-Journal)

“The Disabled Jockeys’ Fund, which in 2003 provided more than $371,000 in financial assistance to permanently and temporarily injured riders, is set to dissolve at the end of the year, leaving questions of how the Jockeys’ Guild will fulfill one of its core missions to support disabled riders.” (Thoroughbred Times)
Related: Jockeys’ Guild president Dr. L. Wayne Gertmenian offers up a bizarre commentary on last month’s incident at Churchill Downs — or, as he dubs it, “Churchill Plantation” — in which jockey Shane Sellers was escorted off the grounds. “I was in a time warp. It was Macon, Georgia and Selma, Alabama thirty years ago. I had hoped the days of Master and Slave were over.” (Jockeys’ Guild)

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