Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano is staring down a three-day suspension right at the start of the 2027 Saratoga Race Course meet, a penalty handed down by the state Gaming Commission for “careless riding” this past weekend. This news drops just as Castellano is set to ride The Puma in Saturday’s massive Travers Stakes.
A Win That Wasn’t So Clean: The Ballston Spa Stakes Incident
The suspension stems from Castellano’s ride aboard And One More Time in the 10th race, the Grade 2 Ballston Spa Stakes, last Saturday at Saratoga. And One More Time managed to win by a neck in a super tight, three-horse finish against Sunlit Uplands and Deep Satin. But don’t let the win fool you, it was messy. The Equibase chart says And One More Time “began to come outwards under just left handed urging while being flashed a right handed crop, herded out Sunlit Uplands four paths and Segesta three paths from the eighth pole to inside the sixteenth marker.” Yikes! They got corrected, but the damage was done. There was a full-on stewards’ inquiry into the stretch run, and Sunlit Uplands’ rider, John Velazquez, even claimed foul for interference. Despite all that, the race result was allowed to stand after review. Still, the Gaming Commission clearly saw enough to slap Castellano with the ban.
Milestones and More Inquiries: A Pattern Emerging?
This suspension is not Castellano’s only recent run-in with race officials. The 48-year-old jockey just hit a massive career milestone on Wednesday, scoring his 6,000th career win aboard Starship Lizzy. That’s huge! But guess what? Even that landmark victory required a stewards’ inquiry before it was made official and allowed to stand. It makes you wonder, doesn’t it? Castellano also missed most of the first month of the Saratoga meet earlier this season due to a back injury from a four-horse fall, an incident that led to a lengthy suspension for jockey Paco Lopez. Gaming Commission rules say suspensions need to be served in the same meet as the infraction, even if it’s in a different calendar year.
Now, all eyes are on Saturday. Castellano, a native of Venezuela, will be back in the saddle for trainer Gustavo Delgado, riding The Puma in the Travers Stakes. He’s already the most successful rider in Travers history, with a ridiculous seven wins in Saratoga’s signature race. Can he make it eight, or will the recent controversies weigh on him? We’ll be watching!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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