Upon review, the Los Alamitos Race Course stewards determined there were violations under California's new whip rule July 2, the first day of racing featuring the new mandate.
After reviewing video July 3, the stewards ruled jockey Edwin Maldonado violated the new whip rule, which doesn't allow more than three strikes in succession without giving the horse a chance to respond, during his winning ride aboard Domingo Cat in Thursday's fifth race. Stewards fined Maldonado $200 for his first violation of the rule.
The stewards also fined Felipe Valdez $200 for the same infraction in Thursday's eighth race, when he rode Sturdy One to a third-place finish.