Parx Jock Granted Stay Amid Buzzer Discovery; Back in Saddle Saturday

Angel Castillo, who was abruptly removed from his mounts and ejected from Parx racetrack on Tuesday after Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission officials allegedly linked him to the discovery of an electrical horse shocking device in a common area of the jockeys’ quarters, has been granted a stay and ride five mounts on Saturday.

 Castillo’s reinstatement and the disclosure that there will be a hearing to adjudicate the matter was confirmed by the jockey’s attorney, Alan Pincus. 

Since Tuesday, multiple phone messages left for Walter Remmert, the acting executive secretary of the PHRC, have gone unreturned. 

“They’ve given him a stay. He’s back on. We are supposed to be having a stewards’ hearing in the next few days, where he will be vindicated,” Pincus said. “They got the wrong fellow. I think that they are starting to understand that, but we have to go through the hearing process.” 

According to Pincus, regulatory officials at Parx “shook the jockeys’ room down” between races four and five on Tuesday, using a metal-detecting wand to search for an illegal shocking device. Pincus said he could not speculate on whether officials were acting on a tip or if they singled out specific riders. 

Both Castillo and his locker were searched and no illegal device was found, Pincus said. 

Castillo was then allowed to go down to the paddock to ride the next race. But in the interim, according to multiple news reports, a so-called “battery” or “machine” was found in a common area of the jockeys’ quarters. Allegedly, the electrical device was concealed within or attached to a riding glove bearing the initials “A.C.” 

“I haven’t seen the glove, but Mr. Castillo routinely lends gloves to other jockeys. I think that was the case that sent them in the wrong direction,” Pincus said. 

Castillo was then taken off his mounts, detained, and then escorted off the premises. Adding to the confusion, Pincus said Castillo, a native Venezuelan, does not speak English, and the jockey was not given any paperwork indicating that he was officially suspended or charged with a violation of racing rules. 

“It’s our opinion that in a rush to judgment, the commission got the wrong fellow,” Pincus said. 
Pincus said security camera footage in the jockeys’ room could possibly be used to exonerate Castillo, but “I haven’t been able to get access to it.” 

Pincus said it was his understanding that even though the ejection took place at the behest of the racing commission, Castillo’s hearing would take place before the Parx stewards. 

“They’ve assured me it will take place during the next sequence of racing dates,” Pincus said.