Amidst the thrills of photo finishes, the magnificence of galloping hooves and powerful strides, there’s a brewing controversy in horse racing that seems to have taken the shape of a full-blown saga. And this escalated after one decision from the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) was deemed to be too excessive.

At the center of it is Paco Lopez, the jockey who is currently serving a 6-month suspension for crop violations, which was imposed on September 23. But since then, he has found support from the community, and this includes his fellow jockeys, who have come out to stand with Paco Lopez and against the ruling. On September 28, the X handle of Jockeys’ Guild shared a message “in solidarity with Paco Lopez” and to “oppose his unreasonable suspension”.

In the clip shared, Tyler Gaffalione, the renowned Eclipse Award winner, took the lead in a room of jockeys to put his point across. “Hi guys, this is Tyler Gaffalione on behalf of the Churchill Downs Jockeys Room. We just wanted to speak in our opposition of the suspension for Paco Lopez.” Continuing, he said, “We think it’s excessive. Yes, he did have several violations, but the punishment doesn’t fit the crime. We just want to show our support for Paco, and we are behind him.”

In case you are wondering what this is all about, it all got rolling when HISA decided to ban Lopez for 6 months for the whip usage violations he committed while riding Book’em Danno in the G1 Forego Stakes win on August 23rd. The stewards penalized Lopez for raising his whip above his helmet, an infraction that incidentally ended up violating the terms of his conditional reinstatement.

HISA officials had also pointed out that this violation had been previously committed by Lopez at least 3 times in the fall of 2024 at Parx Racing. But, the Churchill Downs jockey room feels the 6-month suspension is way too harsh, and since it is a provision whose sanctions are dictated by steward discretion, the jockeys feel the period of ban could have been lower.

And it’s not just the jockeys. As soon as the verdict against Paco Lopez came out, it was the horse racing fans who first raised their voices.

Paco Lopez has received widespread backing from the horse racing community

The 39-year-old jockey had the highest number of wins in 2025 in North America. But he must have been even more overjoyed seeing the overwhelming support he has received since the suspension ruling. Some fans have literally asked for a renegotiation of the verdict. While others have questioned the rule itself: “It makes no sense restricting jockeys from being able to raise your whip above your head.”

Some have even tried to reason that this is an age-old trick in horse racing where jockeys use that move to scare other horses from passing, and that Paco Lopez wasn’t doing it to hurt his own horse. While some think the 6-month ban was because HISA was offended by Lopez’s violation of reinstatement terms. Actually, the jockey was indefinitely suspended in December 2024 for striking his horse across the neck with his whip while making his way to the winner’s circle at the Parx racetrack.

Then, after 50 days of serving the ban, Lopez was given a way back, provided he took regular therapy sessions, made sizable donations to the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund and Second Call Thoroughbred Adoption and Placement. And most importantly, he has to refrain from committing violations. Well, when the Forego Stakes incident happened, HISA felt its faith was undermined.

In a statement released, a HISA spokesman clarified (via Thoroughbred Daily News), “Since Mr. Lopez returned from his suspension in January, 2025, he has been found by stewards to have committed 10 violations of HISA’s riding crop rule, including eight violations in which the crop was raised with his wrist above his helmet when using the crop. The cumulative nature of the violations demonstrates a pattern of disregard for HISA’s rules and presents risk of injury to Covered Horses.”

But now, the jockeys have come forward in protest against the verdict. Do you think this saga will give way to a radical change in the horse racing rules? Let us know your thoughts!