In 2026, 33-year-old Grade 1 jockey Ricardo Santana Jr was arrested on domestic violence charges and had his professional licence suspended by racing regulators just days before the Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland.
Santana, a prominent jockey with over 2,250 career victories—including two previous Breeders’ Cup wins aboard Mitole in 2019 and Fire At Will in 2020—was taken into custody by law enforcement in Louisville, Kentucky, on Monday.
According to official police records cited from the incident report, officers were dispatched to a domestic violence incident in the Middletown district of Louisville after a woman left the premises to escape her boyfriend.
The report states that the woman confronted Santana regarding his alcohol consumption as he sat drinking on their front porch at approximately 11:30am. Santana allegedly reacted with violence, seizing the woman around the throat with both hands and shoving her against kitchen cabinets. The victim fled the address before returning at around 8:00pm with food for her children. A second altercation occurred, during which Santana allegedly grabbed her throat once again and shoved her into the kitchen cabinetry, causing injury and acute pain to her hip.
Santana was formally booked and charged with:
- One count of first-degree strangulation
- One count of fourth-degree assault (domestic violence with minor injury)
During his arraignment on Tuesday morning, Santana entered not guilty pleas to both charges.
Following the criminal proceedings, the Kentucky Horse Racing & Gaming Corporation acted to immediately suspend Santana’s riding licence pending the legal outcome of the case. The regulatory sanction forced connections to remove Santana from his upcoming championship mounts, including the Grade 1 Forego Stakes winner Hymn in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, where trainer Ron Moquett replaced him with jockey Rafael Bejarano, and Foie Gras in the Filly & Mare Sprint for trainer Michael Maker.
Issuing a public statement, the Breeders’ Cup organisation confirmed:
“The Breeders’ Cup respects the decision of the Kentucky Horse Racing & Gaming Corporation to suspend the license of Ricardo Santana Jr, pending the disposition of his criminal charges. Replacement riders will be identified by the connections of his contenders and conveyed to the stewards. The Breeders’ Cup condemns violence in all forms and remains committed to upholding the highest standards of conduct and professionalism throughout our sport, while recognising the importance of due process.”
The court noted that Santana previously faced criminal proceedings in November 2024, when he pleaded guilty to two offences of driving under the influence (DUI) and served a seven-day custodial prison term in Kentucky.
Santana remains subject to active bail conditions and the ongoing regulatory suspension as the criminal prosecution proceeds through the court system.
Image
Source Flickr
Author Rennett Stowe
Licence CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/)
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