Sovereignty captures the 2025 Kentucky Derby
Sovereignty overcame a tough situation and a competitive field with a win in the rainy 2025 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs.
Like so many farms, meat-eating factories and other industries that rely heavily on immigrant labor, horse racing is full of people who will support President Trump’s campaign in 2024 but didn’t think he would target him. Their A business with a massive deportation he promised.
“They were sure he was just chasing the bad guys,” said Will Berry, an immigration lawyer specializing in the horse racing industry. “But the definition of bad guys for many people in the administration is someone with no status.”
And now, as expected, there is a reason to be nervous about horse racing looking to have a big problem with the hands.
The ice raid in Delta Downs in Bington, Louisiana on Tuesday morning should be a wake-up call for an industry that cannot function as grooms and hot walkers and stall cleaners workforce and roughly 75% of immigrants, as more than 80 backstretch workers reportedly have been detained.
They come from places like Venezuela, Panama, Colombia and Mexico, and work in low-paid jobs, but they play an essential role, retrieving 24 hours a day for hundreds of thousands of dollars, or even millions of dollars in animals.
Most of these workers in attractive trucks like Churchill Downs and Saratoga are found on H-2B visas. This allows a well-known and cheered barn to reserve for them and allow them to travel from one race to the next.
But even at its best, it’s a difficult system to navigate by issuing just 66,000 issued annually by the US government, with only 66,000 processing times and complex update mechanisms. And, of course, these are not the best times. In a climate where immigrant construction workers are systematically arrested in the Home Depot parking lot, the only thing that keeps the racetrack from becoming a big fat target for ice is the president’s whim.
“We’re in the middle of the open,” Berry said. “There’s no hiding. You’re in the middle of town, and they can surround you and raise many people at once.”
“Everyone is nervous.”
It’s a barely unspeakable but unconscious fear of horse racing, ever since the current Trump administration’s first weeks revealed that his deportation stance was more aggressive than his first term, and it remains in the background on his back.
“Everyone is nervous,” the well-known trainer, Dale Roman, told reporters at a Kentucky Derby Week press conference set specifically to deal with the threat posed by potential ice attacks at the racetrack. “If migrant workers can’t be on the back, we don’t know how horse racing will exist. We need a common sense path to long-term legalization. We’re not talking about citizenship.
“The perfect scenario is to get an amnesty program that leads to work permits. If vetted, proven not a criminal, or proven to pay taxes, it is sponsored by an employer. You have the right to work in the United States.
Of course, it’s a difficult topic to get most people to deal with. Not only are trainers and owners silent to get too much attention on themselves, but also because of their clear political implications, racetracks are generally not leaning towards the Republican Party. Many well-known owners and racetrack executives have a direct policy on him.
And that’s why it seemed that the relief last week when the Department of Homeland Security issued guidance exempt from these attacks because it harbored the agriculture industry, hotels and restaurants. Horse racing was not specifically mentioned, but it is clearly falling into the same category.
Then, a few days later, the White House decided to turn the course back and resume those raids. It didn’t take long for the racecourse to be on the hit list.
“Since Mark Holiday, head of the New York Racing Association, is a business partner with (Trump’s son-in-law) Jared Kushner, he had a pretty strong assurance that he had some kind of executive action protecting jockeys and farm workers,” Berry said. “But I think there are a lot of competing factions in the administration that are competing for this.”
Clean up “people who always care for horses”
The question of whether or not you are racing, regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum Should Relying on cheap immigrant labor is a fair game for criticism. North American’s greatest trainer of all time, Steve Asmussen settled over hundreds of thousands of dollars of overtime and backpay in a 10-year-old trial with the Department of Labor earlier this month. Over the years, the industry rarely looks great whenever the wages and living conditions of backstretch workers are subject to media scrutiny.
Earning a living is a difficult way. But ultimately, for the thousands of people desperately need it, it’s a living. And the symbiotic relationship with horses that need to be nourished and cared for them is not merely a human story. One of the biggest concerns coming out of potential racetrack raids is what happens to the horse while the groom is being arrested.
“The problem is like the job of people behind the scenes, the grooms, the hot walkers, the people who care about the horses and make sure they are maintained and healthy.
“It’s hard to get anyone to do that job, and we rely heavily on immigrants, and they’re hardworking and good people. Obviously there are couples who may be violating the legal system. We don’t want to fill them up, especially in violent situations. Racecourses that put us all in really difficult situations and put our horses in danger.”
Chelsea Perez, senior program manager for Humane World for Animals World, told USA Today Sports that it is important to include a process in which horse safety and well-being can be ensured.
“Horse are big, easily frightened animals that can get seriously injured, seriously injured when not being treated properly, or injure others,” she said. “Developing the right protocol is key to effective emergency response for both law enforcement and horse facility managers.”
Meanwhile, during USA Today Sports, Louisiana’s racetracks have said they are particularly vulnerable to ice attacks for several reasons, including the fact that races in the state are being blocked from enforcing the Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) rules. A Hisa spokesman declined to comment, and the National Thoroughbred Race Association did not respond to requests for comment.
Delta Downs is currently running a quarterhorse meeting. There is a stronger suspicion there is a greater degree of doubt about workers with no visas than the well-known thoroughbred trucks.
Still, there is a potentially chilling effect across the industry, especially given the lack of a consistent message from the Trump administration.
“There’s a lot of tension behind it,” Ecabert said. “People are clearly worried about (another) raid and a lot of uneasy people certainly.”
Of course, this is what many of their owners and trainers voted for.
“I got calls from trucks across the country (the next day) and every one of them said the same thing, Berry said.
