“Is This a Joke?”: Sports World Left Divided as Jockey Faces Actions for ‘Careless Riding’

The Kentucky Derby Festival is a clear reflection of how the entertaining horse races dominate the sports arena. However, one cannot deny the fact that Equestrian sports are rife with risks costing the life of both jockeys and horses. And the list of horses being killed during the sport is often nerve-racking for horse lovers. The recent addition to the tally is the Master of the Ring during a race at Keeneland.

The poor horse was killed for no fault of its own but hard luck, as the unfortunate incident unfolded during the Keeneland spring meet. The accident occurred during the sixth race (8th race card) when a star Jockey’s horse swerved into Master of the Ring’s path ousting the latter and causing fatal injuries. And the Jockey is now facing a penalty for careless riding.

Jockey suspended by Kentucky stewards citing careless riding

Master of the Ring ridden by Tyler Gaffalione suffered a major fall after Foreign Relations mounted by jockey Flavein Prat diverged into the former’s track close to the one-eighth pole due to clipped heels. The horse was fatally injured and later euthanized making it the second horse to die in the ongoing Keeneland Spring Meet. Gaffalione was fortunate enough to escape the tragedy with minor injuries.

Though Foreign Relations won the race after the incident, the horse was announced disqualified for all games. And the Jockey faced a penalty of suspension for 3 days awarded by the Kentucky stewards for “careless riding”. The suspension will be implemented next week starting on Wednesday and ending on Friday. And Prat has decided against an appeal according to his agent, Brad Pegram.

Read More: “Devastated for You”: Horrifying Fall Forces Trainer to Euthanize Horse, Equestrian World Shattered Over the Loss

The news was shared by Paulick Report on its Facebook page which left netizens in splits. The Equestrian enthusiasts have something to say about the incident and expressed their thoughts in the comments section. 

The Equestrian World reacts to the unfortunate incident

The incident jolted netizens as they find the 3-day suspension to be a bare minimum. A frustrated user writes, “ Three days??? Is this a joke?? A horse died and its jockey unseated!!!!!” On the same line, another user found the penalty to be ridiculous and commented,” Three whole days? Wow. I hope he doesn’t have to start a Go Fund Me to get through the rest of the month. What a joke.” 

Animal lovers found the sentence to the jockey unacceptable as they pleaded for more severe punishment. A commenter said, “Should be a lot more than that. A LOT.” “Three days! For a fatal injury to a horse. That is infuriating. How about 300 days!!” suggested another user. While a few users were in support of the rider claiming, “This wasn’t intentional it was an accident.” “He should’ve appealed it,” suggests another user. Horse racing is an entertaining event but witnessing a horse fall could be quite saddening for horse lovers. Do you agree? 

Watch the story here: We are all gut wrenched”: 8-year-old horse suffers horrifying fate after falling down a 100-foot-embankment