Jockey Mychel Sanchez was placing bets including some against himself through his TVG account and actually won some of the races
You just can’t make this stuff up. The late great Eddie Arcaro was once asked what he would have liked to do if he wasn’t a jockey? He replied I’d have liked to have been the bookie in the jocks room.
Apparently the early morning rumors about a jockey suspended for 60 days for betting in races he was riding and against the horses he rode were true. Jockey Mychel Sanchez was suspended for 60 days by the Pennsylvania Racing Commission upon determining he opened a TVG account in his own name in December of 2021. Sanchez made multiple bets through the account and indeed bet horses that were racing against his own mounts. To make the situation even more bizarre Sanchez won at least two of the races where he bet against himself. The riders attorney, Alan Pincus was quoted in an article in the Paulick report as saying this:
“He’s doing this, and fortunately TVG notices who it is and what’s going on and they alert the racing commission. It’s inexplicable. He had races where he actually bet against his own horse, then went out and won the race. One horse paid $37 to win. Another race he bets against himself and he won the race on a horse that paid $27. He’s not pulling horses, he’s not doing it for evil purposes, he’s doing it for crazy purposes, inexplicable purposes. But obviously it is against the rules and you can’t do that.”
Sanchez rode the $38.60 winner Jakarta at Parx on Dec. 28 and the $27.40 winner No Fooling Dude on Dec. 29, according to Equibase charts.
Pincus went on to further explain Sanchez is suffering from depression and was wagering as a result of that. The Jockeys Guild ordered the rider into a treatment program and Gulfstream Park and Laurel have suspended him indefinitely. It is a safe assumption additional tracks where Sanchez has ridden will institute investigations.
Most ADW’s monitor accounts and wagering patterns. TVG was obviously diligent in their duties and took the appropriate action.
In a sport suffering from perception issues amongst other things, this is the last type of publicity it needs.
NYRA PHOTO: Susan Raisher, Coglianese Photos
