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Arlington jockeys sue Illinois owners, trainers

Posted: Saturday, June 30, 2007 1:06 PM

by Neil Milbert
 
Seeking their second raise in 22 years, Arlington Park jockeys are taking owners and trainers to court.
 
The track's all-time leading rider, Hall of Fame jockey Earlie Fires, and the Jockeys' Guild filed a Cook County Circuit Court class action lawsuit on June 29 against Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association president Frank Kirby and the approximately 300 owners and trainers who have raced horses at Arlington since May 1.
 
The lawsuit alleges that Kirby and fellow owners and trainers have "taken an active part in the conspiracy to deprive jockeys ...of their ability to establish their own fees for engaging in riding."
 
"We'll meet with our attorneys," Kirby said. "Certainly, we hope there will be compromise. That's for sure."
 
The main issue is the amount jockeys are paid for mounts that finish worse than third. Currently, the scale in six purse categories ranges from a low of $45 in races with purses from $5,000 to $9,999 to a high of $105 in races with purses of $100,000 and up.
 
The jockeys are asking that the amount be doubled in each of the categories; that the fees be paid in addition to a 10% commission for rides on first-, second-, and third-place finishers; and that the increases be retroactive to May 1, when the Arlington meeting began. They also are seeking "an award of three times the amount of actual damages."
 
According to the Guild's national manager, Dwight Manley, the Guild this spring reached a tentative agreement with a group of ITHA representatives to increase the minimum $30 per category but it was "rejected" by the ITHA board.
 
Thomas Allison, the Chicago attorney who represents the jockeys, contends that the actions of the defendants "constitute a restraint of trade and unlawful conspiracy under Illinois anti-trust laws."
 
The lawsuit also accuses the ITHA of "engaging in a petitioning campaign to urge other trainers and owners to refuse to pay the increased scale of fees…and by threatening to refuse to allow its Horsemen's Bookeeper to continue to process jockey mount fees if the new scale is accepted by any trainers or owners at Arlington Park."
 
The national norm is for state racing commissions to establish mount fees but the Illinois Racing Board's executive director, Marc Laino, said Illinois legal precedent prohibits the regulatory body from intervening in the dispute.    
 
Since 1985, jockeys have received one increase, a $5 raise in 2000.
 
"It's been nearly a quarter of a century since the last major increase to provide livable wages for...jockeys who risk disabling injuries every time they ride," Manley said. "Being a professional jockey is one of the most dangerous jobs in America. An average of 2,500 injuries involving jockeys are recorded every year."

Neil Milbert is an Illinois-based Thoroughbred Times correspondent