Paco Lopez Returns At Laurel

[Wandering Eyes]

Fifty days since his last mount, when he was suspended by HISA for striking a horse in a malicious manner following a race at Parx, Paco Lopez will return Saturday at Laurel, where he will have three rides. They include the mount on Hawkstone (Catalina Cruiser) in the Spectacular Bid Stakes.

“I'm feeling good and I've been working very hard to be ready for my comeback,” he said.

Lopez was aboard National Law (Constitution) in a maiden special weight race at Parx for trainer Jorge Duarte Jr. The horse bore out so severely that he was just a few feet from the outer rail as he crossed the wire first. But that was not when Lopez hit the horse. He did so after he had pulled up and everything appeared to be under control. He took his whip and slashed the horse across the neck and face, and his actions were caught on camera.

Lopez was then given an indefinite suspension, which came with some conditions. He was ordered to participate in therapy sessions and make sizeable donations to the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund and Second Call Thoroughbred Adoption and Placement. He said that even though the suspension has been lifted he will remain in therapy.

Lopez said one of the hardest parts of his suspension was that he was not permitted to work or gallop horses, even if they were at a training center or at a farm.

“I wasn't allowed to gallop horses,” he said. “They told me I couldn't touch one horse. I've been doing a lot of running in my house so I should be fit enough.”

As has been the case since the incident, Lopez has said all the right things and again expressed remorse for his actions.

“I have learned something,” he said. “I know now you can't do that and that I made a mistake. I've tried to do the right things since. I have taken my days, apologized to everyone and am still in therapy. I have tried to learn and move on.”

He said he was not surprised by the length of the suspension. This was far from the first time that Lopez was involved in a controversy. In one example, he was giving a 30-day suspension by the stewards at Parx for failing to ride out Ridin With Biden (Constitution) in the 2023 GIII Greenwood Cup Stakes. Ridin With Biden was third.

After Laurel, he will head to Parx on Monday and Tuesday, where he often rides on days when Monmouth and/or Gulfstream is dark. So far, he has not accepted any mounts at the Florida track, but said he will do so soon. He said he wanted to be 100% fit when ready to ride again at Gulfstream, which has one of the toughest jockey colonies in the U.S.

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