Personally, I LOVE where he says:
"As we were coming through the lane, I intended to hit her on the shoulder with my whip to keep her from continuing to lug in, and hold my position in 2nd."
It took them over 48 hours to come up with this?
A) In my many years of enjoying the sport, I have actually never seen a jockey who intended to hit a horse on the shoulder, nearly take out an eye. I'm not saying it never happened but I've never seen it in 32 years of watching.
B) After the initial "lugging in" the horse had actually straighted out for about 4-5 jumps before he whacked her, the first time.
C) When he hit her for the 2nd and 3rd time as they neared the wire, the 2nd place finisher had already passed them up with ease, so I'm not sure how he thought he was going to "hold...2nd".
The ONLY thing he has going in his favor is nobody REALLY knows if it was an accident or not except for him. In the court of public opinion, he has already been convicted. I am one of those who has done so. But I don't think at this point that matters to him or his lawyer. The only thing that matters is getting this behind them, with as little punishment as possible. They'll hope the rest will take care of itself over time.
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