Jockey Accused of ‘Fixing’ Gets Support

ROCHESTER, N.Y. —  The horse central to an alleged race-fixing scheme at the Finger Lakes Race Track was a “less than desirable” mount, a jockey testified in U.S. District Court.

Leslie Hulet, one of the track’s leading jockeys, said Monday that he had changed his opinion about the race in question after watching the horse, Shine Please, race again on Memorial Day.

“The horse now has established a reputation as being less than desirable,” Hulet said. “It has softened my opinion about how Joe rode him.”

Jockey Joseph Badamo, trainers Edward J. Babcock and Michael Ferraro and Ferraro’s ex-wife, Patricia Ferraro, are charged with conspiracy and wire fraud for allegedly fixing the outcome of the eighth race at Finger Lakes on Sept. 26.

Badamo rode Shine Please to a fourth-place finish in that race after the horse veered wide and Badamo dropped his whip.

Badamo said the horse had tried repeatedly to “go out” toward the outside fence as it went around the turn. Racing officials and prosecutors have accused him of deliberately holding the horse back.

Shine Please, equipped with special blinders, placed in the money in several subsequent races last year. But on Memorial Day this year, Shine Please, ridden by another jockey and not wearing the blinders, bolted and went wide again as he went around the turn.

“Would you say this horse was difficult to control in both races?” defense lawyer Anthony Leonardo asked Hulet.

“Yes, he was difficult to control. . . . I would have done the same thing,” Hulet said. “I would have restrained him, sure.”