Jockey Paco Lopez To Step Away From Horse Racing After Abusing Young Colt

Jockey Paco Lopez, 39, announced Thursday that he is stepping away from horse racing after an incident involving a two-year-old colt at Parx Racing and Casino in Pennsylvania. 

After the fifth race at Parx on Tuesday, Dec. 3, Lopez was seen violently striking his mount, National Law, across the back of his neck. The strike was seemingly a reprimand for behavior during the race, in which the young horse bore out to the outside rail during the stretch. 

Bearing out is typical of immature horses still learning to race, and National Law still managed to win. Lopez had already been provisionally suspended by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) before he announced his hiatus.

“I take full responsibility for my actions,” Lopez wrote in a statement on social media. “I am aware that our sport is under a lot of scrutiny, and I fully apologize to everyone involved in our sport – fans, horsemen, management, racing commissions, HISA, and, of course, National Law. My actions were reactionary, in the heat of the moment, and I am truly sorry. … It cannot be overstated how much I love horses and this industry. Horseracing has been my whole life and I look forward to a return in the near future.”

Lopez has been one of the nation’s most successful riders for many years, regularly dominating meets at Monmouth Park in New Jersey while taking healthy purses in Florida and smaller venues like Parx. His suspension will prevent him from competing in all of these states, which are affiliated with HISA and follow the organization’s guidelines. 

HISA has jurisdiction in all but two states: West Virginia and Louisiana. Many speculated that Lopez might look for mounts at tracks in these states as a result, but his announcement Thursday put an end to those possibilities for now.

Jockeys have encountered countless controversies over the years for the use of their riding crops. Several riders have been formally disciplined for using electric shock devices in their crops, while tamer incidents are typically related to excessive whipping in the stretch. Regional authorities in some states have taken steps in recent years to regulate crop usage better. Lopez’s action does not fall into any of these categories, however, as he blatantly used the crop as a weapon and disciplinary tool against his horse outside the confines of the racing event.

HISA has not yet finalized the terms of Lopez’s suspension, which remains indefinite while officials organize to send down a formal ruling for the incident. Lopez did not clarify if his time away from the sport would coincide with the length of his suspension, though he did claim that he intended to use the time to seek help and improve himself.