Horse recovering well after whip incident
By JACK IRELAND â?¢ The News Journal â?¢ June 25, 2008

Appeal To The City, the 5-year-old mare whose left eye was injured after being whipped in the face by jockey Jeremy Rose on Monday, is recovering well at the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center in Kennett Square, Pa.

John Wayne, executive director of the Delaware Thoroughbred Racing Association, and Fran Swift, the commission's investigator, visited the horse in his medical stall this morning.

"His eye looks pretty good," Wayne said. "The horse was alert, bright, happy and friendly. On another positive note we fed her mints and she certainly loved that. In fact, when Fran opened another bag of mints to give to other horses there, she tried to get away from the vet so he could get over to Fran with the mints."

Wayne, who saw the horse moments after the incident Monday, said her eye appeared better today.

"She was in a lot of discomfort and pain," Wayne said of the horse's condition on Monday. "She shied away from us and couldn't open her eye."

Wayne said he was told the horse may be released from the New Bolton Center on Friday.

Rose, who gained national fame when he rode Afleet Alex to wins in the 2005 Preakness and Belmont stakes, was suspended Tuesday for six months for whipping Appeal To The City in the face and eye.



The penalty was handed down by the Delaware Thoroughbred Racing Commission, which reviewed videotape of the incident.

Two stewards monitoring the third race Monday reported that Rose appeared to strike the horse twice across the face and once on the neck with his whip as the horse was about 50 yards from the finish line. One of those strikes landed across the horse's left eye.

The stewards watched the race several more times on video replay, according to commission Executive Director John Wayne.

Appeal To The City finished third in the turf race, paying $3 to show.

Wayne said the stewards immediately asked him to go back to the track's barn area and photograph the horse. Dr. John Peters, the track's head veterinarian, also examined her.

"I took my camera and photographed the horse and the left eye was hemorrhaged," Wayne said.

Rose appeared before the commission Tuesday morning. He was pulled off his rides that afternoon, suspended until Dec. 24 and ordered to complete an anger-management course within the six months. He was also ordered to pay the veterinary bills for Appeal To The City.

Rose has appealed and will appear again before the commission on July 22. The commission denied the 29-year-old jockey's request for a stay that would have allowed him to continue riding until the appeal is heard.

Wayne said that while Rose is suspended only in Delaware, most states will honor the suspension.

Neither Rose nor his agent, Kid Breeden, have returned phone messages left by The News Journal today

Rose, an Elkton, Md., resident who won the top jockey title at Delaware Park last year, was the second-leading rider during the current meet with 41 wins, 33 seconds, 28 thirds and purse earnings of $1,191,400.

Appeal To The City is owned by Raymond W. Makarovich Jr. of Pasadena, Md., and trained by Howard Wolfenden, who stables horses at Delaware Park and in Maryland. Neither Makarovich Jr. nor Wolfenden have returned phone calls.

"It's unfortunate for Jeremy, but we just aren't going to tolerate the abuse of the horse," said commission Chairman Bernard Daney, a former horse owner and breeder. "No matter if it's an outstanding jockey like Jeremy or one who isn't at that level, we have rules and the jockeys have to abide by them."

Aside from the 2005 Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes wins -- as well as third place in that year's Kentucky Derby -- Rose also has finished third in the Preakness twice, including this year on Icabad Crane, a horse trained by Delaware Park-based Graham Motion.

Since 2000, Rose has won 1,730 races.

Rose did not ride in this year's Kentucky Derby, a race that ended with filly Eight Belles being euthanized on the track after breaking both ankles.

In the wake of the Derby, critics accused jockey Gabriel Saez, who also rides at Delaware Park, of overly using his whip on the filly, an accusation Saez and those associated with Eight Belles deny.

The whip issue has been heavily debated in the national media. In a matter unrelated to Rose's hearing, the commission Tuesday discussed requiring jockeys at the track use a new padded, softer whip.

But Wayne stressed that the penalties against Rose had nothing to do with the recent attention brought to the use of whips on racehorses.

"We are disappointed in Jeremy for putting us in this position," Wayne said. "We all love the animals and I'm sure Jeremy does as well. ... It's a real shame because this is not something I would expect from Jeremy."