Gary Stevens Breaks Collarbone and Pletcher Fined $200

[Revidere]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

If Gary Stevens came to my barn in the same situation I would have to say that I would probably not think to ask to see his license. Stevens is an employee in the loosest definition. The rule is in place so that people dont hire undocumented workers or people with criminal pasts, not to prevent Hall of fame jockeys from getting their legs underneath them. The fact that they are going to spend more time on the "investigation" tells you all you need to know anout the NYS racing board and the joke that it is. I guess they still havent concluded the Chad Brown thermometer incident so the Pletcher case gets pushed back.

I guess Angel Cordero must have a license, given the number of times he works Pletcher's horses.

[slotdirt]

Not on topic completely, but I thought Stevens did just fine in Seabiscuit, as did McCarron.

[randallscott35]

Originally Posted by slotdirt

Not on topic completely, but I thought Stevens did just fine in Seabiscuit, as did McCarron.

McCarron had no words so it wasn't hard not to do fine....Stevens was ok. I was joking.

[prudery]

Originally Posted by randallscott35

McCarron had no words so it wasn't hard not to do fine....Stevens was ok. I was joking.

Actually he did have words--one at least--he greeted George Woolf before the match race and said at least his name ...

I think the simulation of the match race, which Mc Carron basically choregraphed along with thge other racing scenes was very fine, and not easy .

Earlier racing movies has problems with getting the right doubles to either win or lose the races they were duplicating .

The racing scenes were almost perfect in that there was little actual easing or holding and the match race has been compared to the actual race in split screen, and it is amazingly accurate .

McCarron was not expected to act or have much dialog anyway--his main function was the orchestration of riding on fim, and he excelled at it .

[Danzig]

too bad about the horse.
the fine is silly. but then, i thought the guy losing two strokes because he set his golf club down in some dirt was ridiculous.

[OldDog]

DRF:

Stevens did not have an exercise rider’s license in the state of New York, and the stewards fined Pletcher $200 for employing unlicensed help.

I have to wonder if Pletcher actually employed Gary Stevens, or if they were exchanging favors -- Pletcher gets his horses worked, and Stevens gets saddle time. Also, I've noticed that Gary Stevens gets little respect from some here, and wonder why?

Anyway, the bigger story here to me is the loss of Thatcatismine. Only 2 years old.

[Linny]

Odds are that Stevens was NOT being paid, but "using" unlisenced help is against the rules. If you are not licensed in in NY to ride you may not get on a horse on track property. If I want to buy a horse who is looking for a new job off the track, I am not allowed to throw a leg over him (even if my name is Gary Stevens) to try him, even to walk the shedrow without a lisence. By trying the horse, I'm not working or getting paid, but by riding it, I'm breaking the rules. It's mainly to assure that only qualified riders are getting on horses at the track. (I will here ignore the fact that there may well be many licensed riders who can barely hang on and that Gary can probably outride 95% of the riders out there even now.)

That said, had the horse not collapsed and Gary not been hurt, my guess is that no one would have been the wiser.

And Cordero is licensed.

[2Hot4TV]

Originally Posted by OldDog

DRF:

I have to wonder if Pletcher actually employed Gary Stevens, or if they were exchanging favors -- Pletcher gets his horses worked, and Stevens gets saddle time. Also, I've noticed that Gary Stevens gets little respect from some here, and wonder why?

Anyway, the bigger story here to me is the loss of Thatcatismine. Only 2 years old.

2yo or 9 yo the horse should of had more time to recover. I just dont understand what the rush is with a 2 yo.

[clyde]

sumwunhere is a sorry excuse for a monitor