Velasquez Is New Jockey’s Guild Chairman

Posted on Wednesday, June 28th, 2006

John_VelasquezRider and two-time Eclipse Award winner, John Velazquez, was chosen as chairman of the Jockeys’ Guild board of directors Monday, another step in the union’s recovery from near-bankruptcy.

The jockey recently returned to riding after suffering a cracked shoulder blade, collapsed lung and bruised ribs while riding at Keeneland on April 20.

Velazquez will serve as the head of the Guild, which has spent the last six months trying to repair its reputation following the firing of former national manager Dr. Wayne Gertmenian. The board of directors removed Gertmenian from office last November following revelations of widespread mismanagement that left the Guild over $1 million in debt.

G.R. Carter will serve as the Guild’s vice chairman. Jon Court was elected secretary and Jeff Johnston was chosen treasurer. Mark Guidry, Alex Solis, Jerry LaSala, Perry Compton and Edgar Prado were also elected to the Guild’s board of directors.

Only 16 of the Guild’s 27 Senators were able to attend the meeting, which included interviews with candidates vying to become Gertmenian’s permanent replacement. Darrell Haire, who has been serving as interim national manager since Gertmenian’s firing, is among those applying for the position.

Share with other horse racing fans:
  • del.icio.us
  • Digg
  • Furl
  • YahooMyWeb
  • Facebook
  • Reddit

"Velasquez Is New Jockey’s Guild Chairman" was posted on Wednesday, June 28th, 2006 at 10:35 am and is filed under Horse Racing Industry, Jockeys, USA Horse Racing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Previous Horse Racing News Entry:
Edenwold Wins Queen’s Plate Canada Triple Crown Race

Next Horse Racing News Entry:
American Oaks Weekend Stakes at Hollywood Park

Horse Racing News »

Post Comments