| Coteau, LA � Superstar jockey Shane Sellers | | | | are in the game, the game is in you,� answers |
| seemed to have it all: turning pro in the sport � | | | | Sellers. �I am not just a former jockey; I am the |
| horse racing � he loved so much as kid, winning | | | | games biggest fan.� That, coupled with the untimely |
| over 4,000 races and $122 million in purses and finding | | | | deaths of jockeys trying to make weight, is why |
| a soul mate in his wife Kelli. But as candidly revealed in | | | | he�s advocated for change concerning the |
| his �rags to riches to rags� autobiography, | | | | industry�s rules on endorsements, weight limits and |
| �Freedom�s Rein,� Sellers� demons from | | | | on-track insurance. |
| an abusive childhood haunted his personal and | | | | �The lengths others and I have gone through to |
| professional life to the point of a near overdose death | | | | mount and possibly earn fifty dollars, while having little |
| and a brief banishment from the sport. | | | | to no protections insurance-wise for ourselves and our |
| As documented by author Tricia Psarreas, Sellers | | | | families, are unacceptable,� Sellers powerfully |
| used �The Sport of Kings� to escape the grasp | | | | contends. �No more jockeys should have to die for |
| of an alcoholic father and quickly found another family | | | | the chance to ride.� His activism has been |
| in his fellow jockeys, who showed him the ropes and | | | | successful, but came with a price. |
| passed down extreme tips to make outdated weight | | | | In addition to a temporary banishment from Churchill |
| requirements. Sellers recalls, �We would starve, eat, | | | | Downs� tracks, unresolved anger issues stemming |
| heave, sweat and then try to control an animal that | | | | from his childhood almost cost Sellers his family and |
| weighs ten times what we did.� | | | | life. A near overdose on the very day of actor Heath |
| According to Sellers, the daily ritual for most jockeys | | | | Ledger�s death resulted in Sellers entering rehab. |
| would be to avoid eating to meet industry | | | | His anger issues also forced him to work hard to fix |
| requirements (often a 112 pound maximum). If that | | | | his fractured marriage. Psarreas, �Freedom�s |
| wasn�t good enough, in order to mount and have | | | | Rein� co-author, says Sellers� story isn�t just |
| the possibility to earn money, slightly | | | | about horse racing because he openly shares tales of |
| �overweight� jockeys would then resort to | | | | domestic abuse, battles with addiction and the |
| �pulling weight,� sitting in �hot boxes� | | | | heartbreak of trying to maintain a marriage while in the |
| (intense saunas) for hours at a time to sweat off | | | | midst of a mental breakdown. |
| extra pounds. �Flipping� (bulimia) was so | | | | Despite the rollercoaster career, Sellers still maintains, |
| common that most tracks had special toilets (heaving | | | | �Horse racing is a magnificent sport and with a few |
| bowls) installed in the jocks� lounge to keep the | | | | adjustments, it could be perfect.� He is calling for |
| pipes from clogging. | | | | unity, �If anybody wants to make changes in order |
| �The industry had to be aware of what was going | | | | for the whole industry to flourish, they have to work |
| on because there were signs on the walls saying | | | | together.� But as Sellers knows, the initial step |
| we�d be fined if we were caught heaving in the | | | | toward fixing a problem is first admitting that there is |
| wrong type of bowl,� remembers Sellers. | | | | one � even if it means exposing the dirtiest of |
| Why go through all that pain? �Because once you | | | | secrets. |