Larry Jones training my beloved Hard Spun at Monmouth (Sarah K. Andrew)

Over at The Rail, the question was posed to Dr. Larry Bramlage about Larry Jones’ practice of exercising his trainees and if this could have played into Eight Belles’ accident.

No! This did not contribute to her injuries. You could even make the argument that it would be preventative in that it would make the bones stronger. He rides his horses regularly. They are adapted to him on their back. That would tend to make them stronger. The filly that won the Oaks, Proud Spell, is much smaller than Eight Belles. He rides her, too.

To which I asked (by way of comments): “doesn’t his answer indicate that the weight requirements for jockeys are waaaay too severe and in fact cruel? I thought the reason jocks had to weigh less than a supermodel is due to safety concerns for the horse.”

Can we now use his answer, in print in the New York Times, as evidence that jockeys don’t NEED to have ridiculous weight restrictions. While everyone is so high on safety right now, we shouldn’t over look our sport’s human athletes.