The Jockeys' Guild Inc. is an American

trade association A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association, sector association or industry body, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific Industry (economics), industry. Through collabor ...

based in

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...

, representing

thoroughbred horse racing Thoroughbred racing is a sport and Horse industry, industry involving the Horse racing, racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter know ...

and

American quarter horse The American Quarter Horse, or Quarter Horse, is an American breed of horse that excels at sprinting short distances. Its name is derived from its ability to outrun other horse breeds in races of or less; some have been clocked at speeds up to ...

professional

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used ...

s. The organization filed for

Chapter 11 Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...

protection from creditors in

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...

court in Louisville, Kentucky, on October 12, 2007. Established in

1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, events related to World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January *Janu ...

, the organization's founding members consisted of many of the leading jockeys of the day including

Eddie Arcaro George Edward Arcaro (February 19, 1916 – November 14, 1997) was an American Thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame jockey who won more American classic races than any other jockey in history and is the only rider to have won the U.S. Triple ...

Carroll Bierman Carroll M. Bierman (October 22, 1918 – March 22, 1970) was an American Thoroughbred horse racing jockey born in Centralia, Illinois. In 1940, he won the Kentucky Derby on Gallahadion in an upset over heavily favored Bimelech. That Derby r ...

, Charley Kurtsinger,

Johnny Longden John Eric "Johnny" Longden (February 14, 1907 – February 14, 2003) was an American Hall of Fame and National Champion jockey and a trainer of Thoroughbred racehorses who was born in Wakefield, Yorkshire, England. His father emigrated to ...

, Don Meade, Maurice Peters,

Red Pollard John M. "Red" Pollard (October 27, 1909 – March 7, 1981) was a Canadian horse racing jockey. A founding member of the Jockeys' Guild in 1940, Pollard rode at racetracks in the United States and is best known for riding Seabiscuit. Family h ...

, Sam Renick, Harry Richards, Alfred Robertson, and Ray Workman. The Jockeys' Guild founding board was made up of: * Harry Richards - President *

Lester Balaski Lester Anthony Balaski (June 21, 1915 – September 1, 1964) was an American Thoroughbred horse racing jockey, a soldier who served his country during World War II, and a founding director and a First Vice-President of the Jockeys' Guild who die ...

- 1st Vice President * Eddie Arcaro - 2nd Vice President * Raymond Workman - 3rd Vice President * Irving Anderson - Treasurer On February 24, 2001, the ''Thoroughbred Times'' published an article captioned 'A debt of remembrance', that told the story of the important work by jockey Tommy Luther, that led to the Guild's creation. The story recounted the influence on Luther, when he was part of the horrific circumstances North American jockeys lived under at the time; fellow jockey Earl "Sandy" Graham was killed while racing at Polo Park Racetrack in

Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

in September 1927.

Presidents

* Harry Richards: 1940–1943 *Sterling Young: 1943–1949 *

: 1949–1962 * Sam Boulmetis: 1962–1967 * William Boland: 1967–1969 *

Walter Blum Walter Blum (September 28, 1934 – March 14, 2024) was an American jockey who won 4,382 races in a 22-year career. Blum received the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award for being the best jockey of 1964. He won the 1971 Belmont Stakes as the ...

: 1969–1975 * Mike Venezia: 1975–1981 *

Bill Shoemaker William Lee Shoemaker (August 19, 1931 – October 12, 2003) was an American jockey, considered one of the greatest. For 29 years he held the world record for the most professional jockey victories. Early life Referred to as "Bill", "Willie," ...

: 1981–1989 * Jerry D. Bailey: 1989–1996 * Gary Stevens: 1996–2000 *

Pat Day Patrick Alan "Pat" Day (born October 13, 1953, in Brush, Colorado) is a retired American jockey. He is a four-time winner of the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey and was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1991 an ...

: 2000–2001 *Tomey Jean Swan: 2001 (Acting) *L. Wayne Gertmenian: 2001–2005 *Darrell Haire: 2005-2006 (Acting) * Dwight Manley: 2006–2007 * John R. Velazquez: 2007–present

L. Wayne Gertmenian

L. Wayne Gertmenian is a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

Pepperdine University Pepperdine University () is a private university, private Christianity, Christian research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ, with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Pepperdine's main campus consists ...

's Graziadio

School of Business A business school is a higher education institution or professional school that teaches courses leading to degrees in business administration or management. A business school may also be referred to as school of management, management school, s ...

and Management. Gertmenian is known for being

sued A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. T ...

for

fraud In law, fraud is intent (law), intentional deception to deprive a victim of a legal right or to gain from a victim unlawfully or unfairly. Fraud can violate Civil law (common law), civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrato ...

by the Jockeys' Guild after being ousted as president. The Jockeys' Guild alleged in a

civil lawsuit A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. T ...

filed that Gertmenian used his

consulting firm A consulting firm or simply consultancy is a professional service firm that provides expertise and specialised labour for a fee, through the use of consultants. Consulting firms may have one employee or thousands; they may consult in a broad ra ...

and another company owned by a family member to

embezzle Embezzlement (from Anglo-Norman, from Old French ''besillier'' ("to torment, etc."), of unknown origin) is a type of financial crime, usually involving theft of money from a business or employer. It often involves a trusted individual taking ...

funds from the

labor organization A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

's members and the

guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular territory. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradespeople belonging to a professional association. They so ...

health-care plan. A

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

subcommittee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

looking at

health and welfare issues was sharply critical of Gertmenian's management of the Jockeys' Guild. Congress had concerns about Gertmenian himself, and his tendency to embellish. Gertmenian's resume includes references that he was chief

détente ''Détente'' ( , ; for, fr, , relaxation, paren=left, ) is the relaxation of strained relations, especially political ones, through verbal communication. The diplomacy term originates from around 1912, when France and Germany tried unsucces ...

negotiator in the Nixon and Ford administrations, references that could not be confirmed by Congress or the

Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, ...

. Gertmenian also recorded the audio program "Everything's Negotiable".

References

External links

Jockeys' Guild website
Horse racing organizations in the United States Trade unions in the United States Trade unions established in 1940 Sports trade unions of the United States {{US-trade-union-stub