Jockeys to file federal suit over advertising
Jockeys Jerry Bailey, Shane Sellers, Jose Santos, John Velazquez and Alex Solis plan to file a federal lawsuit in Louisville today seeking the right to wear advertisements on their clothing at the May 1 Kentucky Derby, according to a New York Post online report.
"We seem to be the only athletes not allowed to advertise," two-time Derby winner Bailey told The Post.
Jockeys can wear ads in the final two legs of the Triple Crown -- Maryland's Preakness Stakes and New York's Belmont Stakes.
Kentucky bars ads on jockeys' clothing that are deemed "not in keeping with the traditions of the turf."
Julie Koenig Loignon, director of communications for Churchill Downs Inc., told The Post that track officials are sympathetic to the jockeys' views but are obliged to enforce the state's anti-advertising rules.
Last year, Kentucky fined several Derby riders $500 apiece for wearing patches promoting the Jockeys' Guild, a riders' charitable group. The jockeys are fighting the fines in court.
Ron Sheffer, the attorney for the five jockeys filing the federal lawsuit, told The Post that the suit will assert that Kentucky's advertising ban violates riders' free-speech rights.
"If Churchill Downs has a right to make deals and collect money from Visa and other sponsors, I don't think they can prohibit the jockeys from doing it," he said.
Jockeys Jerry Bailey, Shane Sellers, Jose Santos, John Velazquez and Alex Solis plan to file a federal lawsuit in Louisville today seeking the right to wear advertisements on their clothing at the May 1 Kentucky Derby, according to a New York Post online report.
"We seem to be the only athletes not allowed to advertise," two-time Derby winner Bailey told The Post.
Jockeys can wear ads in the final two legs of the Triple Crown -- Maryland's Preakness Stakes and New York's Belmont Stakes.
Kentucky bars ads on jockeys' clothing that are deemed "not in keeping with the traditions of the turf."
Julie Koenig Loignon, director of communications for Churchill Downs Inc., told The Post that track officials are sympathetic to the jockeys' views but are obliged to enforce the state's anti-advertising rules.
Last year, Kentucky fined several Derby riders $500 apiece for wearing patches promoting the Jockeys' Guild, a riders' charitable group. The jockeys are fighting the fines in court.
Ron Sheffer, the attorney for the five jockeys filing the federal lawsuit, told The Post that the suit will assert that Kentucky's advertising ban violates riders' free-speech rights.
"If Churchill Downs has a right to make deals and collect money from Visa and other sponsors, I don't think they can prohibit the jockeys from doing it," he said.
