A hearing into a complaint against a Sacramento, Calif. horse owner charged with improperly substituting jockey silks in the colors of the Confederate flag for a race at Cal Expo was continued to Aug. 26.
Grant Baker, a steward for the Sonoma County Fair at Santa Rosa, said the California Horse Racing Board complaint, which was to have been heard Aug. 7, was put over to allow silks custodian Tony Baze an opportunity to retain legal counsel. The delay switches jurisdiction over the matter to the board of stewards at Golden Gate Fields.
Baze was relieved of his duties for the final four days of the state fair meet for Thoroughbreds and mixed breeds after the incident. According to the complaint, he allegedly "received financial consideration and conspired to "aid and abet" longtime horse owner Bill Wilbur in substituting silks bearing the likeness of the Southern Cross for the owner's regular silks, which are purple, white, and black. The change was not reported to the clerk of the course in advance, a violation of CHRB rules.
Both men face possible license revocation or suspension "for conduct detrimental to horse racing" under rules pertaining to proper attire for a jockey and for solicitation to participate in a prohibited act. The violations are also grounds for future license denial.
The horse, Mute Rudulph, won the maiden claiming race July 15 in his racing debut for Wilbur, who owns the horse in partnership. Wilbur named the 2-year-old bay colt for Ken Rudulph, a host for the horse racing network TVG.