Pierce granted stay of 10-day whipping suspension

Kentucky Horse Racing Authority executive director Lisa Underwood told harnessracing.com Friday afternoon that driver Ron Pierce has been given a stay of his 10-day suspension for violating the one-handed whipping rule in a race earlier in the week at The Red Mile. Pierce's suspension was scheduled to begin Sunday, Oct. 4, which would have meant he would have missed the second week of Grand Circuit racing in Lexington.

 

"I was advised by legal counsel that it would be best to not deny the request for a stay so it has been granted," Underwood said while at The Red Mile on Friday. "The issue will now go before a hearing officer although the date of that hearing has not yet been determined."

 

Pierce received the suspension following his drive on Costa Rica to a second-place finish in a Bluegrass division on Sept. 29. It was noted earlier by The Red Mile's presiding steward, Rich Williams, that Pierce's whipping was "not excessive," but that it was determined to be in violation of the rule.