NEWS
Sellers to attempt comeback
Posted: Friday, June 26, 2009 6:40 PM
SHANE SELLERS
Oaklawn Park photo
Jockey Shane Sellers is set to come out of retirement after a 4½-year hiatus from the sport.
Sellers is scheduled to ride Ide Ball in the first race at Evangeline Downs on July 2 for trainer Mark Guidry.
The 42-year-old native of Erath, Louisiana, retired on December 15, 2004 after amassing 4,069 wins and mount earnings of $122,431,794.
Sellers’s 149 graded stakes wins include the 2000 Travers Stakes (G1) on Unshaded, the ’98 Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1) on Buck’s Boy, the ’97 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) on Countess Diana, and the ’96 Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) aboard Skip Away.
Sellers was one of the first top jockeys to wear advertising and was an advocate for better pay, health insurance, and higher minimum weight for riders.
“It’s no secret to why I’ve decided to come back and why I decided to come back to Evangeline. I rode my first winner here in 1983, and it’s time for me to get back to my roots and what I love,” Sellers said. “I still believe in what I was fighting for back then, but over time I realized that my method or message was not always delivered in a respectable way. If I offended anyone, I apologize and want everyone to know that I am through with all of those causes.”
In 2004, Sellers was barred from Churchill Downs, an action that was prompted after he met with jockeys and then-Churchill Downs President Steve Sexton on November 5 over issues related to insurance coverage. On November 7, 14 jockeys elected to boycott riding at Churchill over the insurance issue, prompting their ejections from the track. Churchill had Sellers arrested and placed in handcuffs earlier that day.
“With my renewed commitment to God and my family, I just want to continue to do what I know and love – that’s ride. I am so thankful for the open armed response that I have received on my comeback and look forward to rekindling old friendships and relationships.”
Sellers will be represented by agent Anthony Martin and plans on finishing the meet at Evangeline Downs before moving his tack to Louisiana Downs and Fair Grounds.
Sellers currently resides in Lafayette, Louisiana, with his family.
