After having been barred from entering his thoroughbreds at Penn National Race Course, top owner Michael Gill has sounded off extensively on the way he is currently
being treated.
In an article on boston.com, Gill says that the refusal of jockeys at Penn National to ride in races which contain his horses due to safety issues, and the subsequent barring of his entries from the track, has to due with jealousy and "filthy and dirty politics." He goes on to state that "they have no real reason" to bar him.
“My crime is I made more money at Penn National last year ($3.1 million) than any one owner made from any other track," he was quoted as saying. "It’s a tiny little racetrack in the middle of nowhere. So it was real simple. They wanted me out because they wanted to cut up that $3.1 million pie themselves.’’
Many riders, on the other hand, disagree.
Penn National said 10 Gill-owned horses had catastrophic breakdowns in a 13-month period ending in January.
“All we know is that he’s not an honest owner,’’ jockey Edwin Navedo, who says he never rides behind a Gill horse, was quoted as saying. “He does something to the horses and they don’t feel anything, so when a horse breaks down, it goes straight down, and there is no chance to go around them. It’s not safe for nobody.’’
(With files from boston.com)
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