An administrative law judge appointed by the Federal Trade Commission has reversed a stewards’ ruling that disqualified a horse ridden by Oscar Ceballos under a regulation prohibiting more than six whip strikes of a horse in a race. The administrative law judge, D. Michael Chappell, agreed with testimony from Ceballos and the horse’s connections that the jockey had exceeded the limit out of an effort to “preserve the safety of the horses and riders in the race,” an exception contained in the current whip rule.  Ceballos had been suspended three days by stewards at Sunland Park in New Mexico after they ruled that he struck the horse Alotaluck 11 times during the running of this year’s Grade 3 Sunland Derby on Feb. 18 while finishing second. Alotaluck, who was bred and is owned by Eleanor Martin, was disqualified due to the alleged infraction, losing the $85,360 purse for second place. According to Chappell’s ruling, Ceballos testified that Alotaluckwas “lugging out” during the entirety of the race and had not responded to earlier corrections of his behavior through the use of the reins. Ceballos struck Alotaluck seven times on the right shoulder in the stretch as the horse drifted from the four-path to the eight-path. Calling Ceballos’s testimony “credible and persuasive” and dismissing the testimony of a steward who also testified in the appeal, Chappell wrote that “the evidence shows that out of the eleven strikes to Alotaluck, the seven strikes to Alotaluck’sshoulder were made for safety reasons in order to stop Alotaluckfrom lugging out.” Chappell also cited a veterinary examination two days after the race showing that Alotaluck had suffered a foot abscess that could have caused the horse to lug out. Ceballos and Martin initially appealed the stewards’ ruling to an arbitrator appointed by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, but that arbitrator upheld the stewards’ ruling. They then appealed the decision to the FTC, which is HISA’s federal overseer. This is the second time that Ceballos has won a reversal of a stewards’ ruling at the FTC level. Last year, Ceballos prevailed in an appeal of a similar whipping-rule violation incurred during the running of the Downs at Albuquerque Handicap on Sept. 24. Chappell also presided over that case.   :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.