Jockeys Guild

The Jockeys Guild alleges in a civil lawsuit filed Monday that ousted president L. Wayne Gertmenian used his consulting firm and another company owned by a family member to embezzle funds from the labor organization's members and the guild health-care plan. The suit filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles alleges that Gertmenian engaged in fraud and theft during his four-year tenure at the financially troubled organization. The guild is seeking unspecified damages.

Former jockey Gary Birzer and his wife, Amy, have a 4-year-old daughter, Robyn. When Robyn's friends ask her why her father rides around in a wheelchair, she says, "He fell down. He was on a horse, and he fell down." Birzer, paralyzed from the waist down when his mount went down in a race at Mountaineer Race Track in Chester, W.Va., in July 2004, smiled as he told the story. "Little kids," Birzer said. "They can reduce everything to simple terms, can't they?"

Every three years, John and Maridee Giovanni make no plans for New Year's Eve. On Dec. 31, 1991, John Giovanni, the national manager of the Jockeys' Guild, was on the phone right up to midnight, coming to terms with the Thoroughbred Racing Assns. tracks just as the existing contract for health and accident insurance ran out.

The bad old days may be a thing of the past for the Jockeys' Guild, but the national organization for race riders is still more than a flip of the switch away from recovering respectability and earning industry respect. "The jockeys are the redheaded stepchild of the industry again," said Eddie King, a New Jersey jockey who was removed as treasurer in 2002 when he questioned the status of the Disabled Jockeys' Fund and other guild finances.

Members of a congressional subcommittee investigating the Jockeys' Guild harshly criticized guild officials Tuesday in Washington. After listening to guild officials, former guild officials and jockeys testify, Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) said: "I have the feeling I've walked into the middle of a Dr. Seuss novel. Where events never happened in a town that never existed." The subcommittee, chaired by Edward Whitfield (D-Ky.), questioned L.

Churchill Downs Inc., trying to protect its tracks from possible jockey walkouts that could include the Kentucky Derby, announced Thursday that it was suing the Jockeys' Guild. The suit, filed against the 1,200-member guild in a federal court in Louisville, seeks injunctions that would prevent a riders' boycott similar to what happened in November at Churchill Downs and one of its sister tracks, Hoosier Park in Anderson, Ind. Fourteen jockeys declined to ride on Nov.

California jockeys, concerned that their costs for health insurance will skyrocket in 2007, are organizing to perhaps buy coverage other than that being offered by the Jockeys' Guild. California riders were stunned last week when the guild's national insurance plan was unveiled at the guild's annual assembly in Las Vegas. "My phone was ringing off the hook," said jockey Joey Castro, who rides in Northern California. "The rates for a rider and his family would be going up, on average, about 125%.

The size of the athletes Dwight Manley represents is about to shrink. The problems they face, however, are huge. Once the agent for former NBA All-Star Karl Malone, Manley is preparing to represent a lot of 5-foot-4, 115-pound jockeys as head of the troubled Jockeys' Guild. Manley and the Rev. Jesse Jackson have formed a surprising alliance and plan to help athletes whose benefits and pay Manley said were "stuck in the past."

L. Wayne Gertmenian's tumultuous term as president and chief executive of the Jockeys' Guild ended Tuesday when the organization's reconstituted board of directors fired him and his consulting company. Gertmenian, an economics professor at Pepperdine University recommended by jockey Chris McCarron before the guild hired him in 2001, lost face after a congressional subcommittee severely criticized him during a hearing in Washington last month.

The bad old days may be a thing of the past for the Jockeys' Guild, but the national organization for race riders is still more than a flip of the switch away from recovering respectability and earning industry respect. "The jockeys are the redheaded stepchild of the industry again," said Eddie King, a New Jersey jockey who was removed as treasurer in 2002 when he questioned the status of the Disabled Jockeys' Fund and other guild finances.

California jockeys, concerned that their costs for health insurance will skyrocket in 2007, are organizing to perhaps buy coverage other than that being offered by the Jockeys' Guild. California riders were stunned last week when the guild's national insurance plan was unveiled at the guild's annual assembly in Las Vegas. "My phone was ringing off the hook," said jockey Joey Castro, who rides in Northern California. "The rates for a rider and his family would be going up, on average, about 125%.

The size of the athletes Dwight Manley represents is about to shrink. The problems they face, however, are huge. Once the agent for former NBA All-Star Karl Malone, Manley is preparing to represent a lot of 5-foot-4, 115-pound jockeys as head of the troubled Jockeys' Guild. Manley and the Rev. Jesse Jackson have formed a surprising alliance and plan to help athletes whose benefits and pay Manley said were "stuck in the past."

The Jockeys Guild alleges in a civil lawsuit filed Monday that ousted president L. Wayne Gertmenian used his consulting firm and another company owned by a family member to embezzle funds from the labor organization's members and the guild health-care plan. The suit filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles alleges that Gertmenian engaged in fraud and theft during his four-year tenure at the financially troubled organization. The guild is seeking unspecified damages.

The Jockeys' Guild will hold its annual assembly on Feb. 27-28 in Dallas, and the members are expected to elect a permanent board and decide how to hire a permanent national manager. John Velazquez, the 2004 Eclipse award-winning jockey and a finalist to repeat when the 2005 awards are presented on Jan. 23, said details about the meeting would be released soon. Velazquez is the chairman of the guild's interim board of directors. The troubled guild ousted former president L.

Even for an action-filled sport such as horse racing, it would be hard to top the off-track drama that unfolded on Nov. 15 at the Monrovia headquarters of the Jockeys' Guild. Angry jockeys, fed up with their organization's leadership, concluded a long conference call by firing embattled president L. Wayne Gertmenian and his top deputy, Albert Fiss. Sometime that day, jockeys allege in a lawsuit, the two men wrote themselves checks totaling $217,000 from the guild's depleted bank account.

The troubled Jockeys' Guild released results of a preliminary financial review Thursday that suggested "an apparent pattern of increasing fiscal neglect extending for at least the past 18 months." The Monrovia-based labor group also reported that its recently ousted management team appeared to have "inappropriately" used $2.1 million in guild funds to cover daily operating costs and pay health insurance claims.

The Jockeys' Guild pleaded guilty to paying a bribe to a former Kentucky state legislator Rep. Bill McBee. The plea was entered under an agreement with federal prosecutors.

Jerry Bailey was elected Monday to fill the unexpired term of retiring Jockeys' Guild President Bill Shoemaker at the annual meeting in Las Vegas. Shoemaker, who is retiring as a jockey in February, served as guild president since 1975. Bailey takes over on Feb. 5 and will serve until next year's board meeting when members will elect a president to serve a full two-year term.

While a House subcommittee suggested that he might face contempt of Congress charges for ignoring congressional subpoenas, L. Wayne Gertmenian was accused Thursday by the Jockeys' Guild of improperly writing checks totaling $217,000. Problems continued to mushroom for Gertmenian, the Pepperdine University economics professor who was dislodged as president of the guild in an emergency meeting by a new board of directors Tuesday.

L. Wayne Gertmenian's tumultuous term as president and chief executive of the Jockeys' Guild ended Tuesday when the organization's reconstituted board of directors fired him and his consulting company. Gertmenian, an economics professor at Pepperdine University recommended by jockey Chris McCarron before the guild hired him in 2001, lost face after a congressional subcommittee severely criticized him during a hearing in Washington last month.