First Turn - 12/10

FIRST TURN

DECEMBER 10

Time to jump ship

by James Scully

The current Jockeys' Guild administration appears above fiscal accountability. Its leader,

Dr. Wayne Gertmenian, has been accused of misrepresenting several items on his

resume, isn't answering legitimate questions about the finances of the

Jockeys' Guild and has insulted track management by labeling them "plantation"

owners. A former economics professor at Pepperdine, Gertmenian came to his post

as the president of the Jockeys' Guild with little knowledge of the horse racing

world. He's done an excellent job at reinforcing the notion that you wouldn't

want a dairy farmer running a steel mill.

The Jockeys' Guild is in chaos. Nobody knows where monies are going and

nobody can explain why the organization can no longer afford to pay catastrophic

insurance premiums that it always paid in the past. It's one thing to work

toward getting tracks to help pay those costs. The last policy that the Guild

covered (from 2001 to 2002) cost less than $500,000. The Jockeys' Guild, which

should never have allowed the policy to lapse while negotiating on how to

pay for it, has received millions in payments from tracks since their last

policy expired and should have plenty of resources on hand to satisfy the most

pressing needs of its members.

The sad thing is that many members didn't even know that the Guild had let

its policy lapse in 2002. Guess it wasn't a priority for Gertmenian to inform

the riders. It took the unfortunate accident of Gary Birtzer, who was left paralyzed

after a spill at Mountaineer Park in July and is unable to pay his medical fees,

to bring the issue to light.

What has the Jockeys' Guild been doing with the

finances once appropriated to paying for insurance for its members? Nobody knows

because the president won't say, and anybody who asks questions from within,

like former Treasurer Eddie King, is promptly removed from their position and

kicked out of the Jockeys' Guild. We're left guessing whether management has taken

money once used to protect all riders and instead shifted it to fight for the

right of the most successful jockeys to wear advertising. That's been a top

priority for Gertmenian since he took office.

It's a shipwreck, yet Gertmenian's contract was extended for five years

earlier this week.

A representative of the organization said following the recent assembly

meeting that tracks would have to deal with Gertmenian in the future. I'm

surprised that he didn't say that the fascist pigs who run

racetracks must subdue to King Gertmenian. That seems to be the mentality at the

top.

The current leadership of the Jockeys' Guild is grossly failing its members

and must be replaced. Nobody in the industry respects them, but Gertmenian and

his cronies are so firmly entrenched that they aren't going anywhere. The

Jockeys' Guild appears no longer capable of being an effective organization, and

Gertmenian, whose Matrix Capital Associates group receives huge consulting fees

every year from the Jockeys' Guild for services that nobody can seem to define,

is hurting his constituents, not helping them.

All hope isn't lost for the men and women who put their lives on the line

every day. It's time for them to jump ship for better representation.

Riders need to stop paying dues to the Jockeys' Guild immediately. The NTRA

was created in 1998 to serve the industry and can help jockeys establish a new,

independent organization to represent their interests. Financial records should

be kept above board. A leader can be appointed who won't need a couple of years

of on-the-job training and won't alienate members of the industry (racetracks)

that jockeys must deal with on important issues like insurance.

Effective leadership is non-existent for current members of the Jockeys'

Guild. They deserve better.