PETA claims Lopez violated crop rule in Preakness win
Group calls for rider to be banned
Frank Vespe
May 19, 2026
Did Paco Lopez violate rules governing use of the riding crop en route to winning Saturday’s 151st Preakness Stakes aboard Napoleon Solo?
PETA alleges he did.
In a statement provided to media, the animal rights organization claims that Lopez, who won his first Triple Crown race, raised his whip above his head three separate times before striking Napoleon Solo during the stretch run of the Preakness.
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Rules promulgated by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) prohibit riders from raising “the crop with the Jockey’s wrist above the Jockey’s helmet when using the crop.”
“Jockeys who repeatedly flout rules designed to protect horses have no place in racing,” PETA said in a statement. “Just weeks after serving a six‑month suspension for violating whip rules, Paco Lopez appears to have ridden to victory in Saturday’s Preakness Stakes while breaking the very same rule by yet again raising his whip hand above helmet level before striking Thoroughbred Napoleon Solo.”
In the Preakness, Lopez had Napoleon Solo, trained by Chad Summers for Al Gold’s Gold Square LLC, pressing the early pace. Napoleon Solo took the lead nearing the quarter pole and held Iron Honor safe through the stretch run.
Lopez has been slapped several times with crop violations. Among them, following Book’em Danno’s win in the Grade 1 Forego at Saratoga last August, Lopez was charged with violating the same rule as PETA alleges he broke in the Preakness.
In that instance, the NYRA stewards fined Lopez $1,000 and suspended him for three days. But HISA said that the rider’s actions violated his conditional reinstatement from an earlier incident – in which a camera captured Lopez striking a horse across the face after the colt veered dramatically to the outside rail in victory – and it suspended him for six months.
While the punishments for violating HISA’s rules regarding the number of strikes of the crop permitted are clearly set forth in the rules, those for lifting the hand above the head when using the crop are less prescriptive and can be more draconian.
In its statement, PETA urges HISA to consider whether Lopez’s actions warrant “forfeiture of his $120,000 share of the Preakness prize money and banishment from racing.”
In a statement sent to Thoroughbred Daily News, HISA wrote, “In accordance with the standard regulatory process, the Stewards at Laurel will review the race footage and all relevant facts to determine whether any action is warranted under HISA’s riding crop rules. We will defer to the Stewards’ independent review and adjudication process and will not comment further while that review is ongoing.”
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