By Bruce Schreiner
The Associated Press

LOUISVILLE - A small union patch worn by Kentucky Derby jockeys has landed them in court.

Thirteen of the jockeys have filed suit against the Kentucky Racing Commission for fining them $500 apiece because they wore Jockeys' Guild patches on their right pantlegs during the Derby on May 3.

The riders wore the 3-by-5-inch patch to draw attention to their disabled colleagues, jockey Shane Sellers said Tuesday.

"We're all only a jump away from being in that situation," Sellers said. "And it could happen any day, any time."

The jockeys say the racing commission violated their free-speech and freedom-of-association rights under the U.S. Constitution.

At issue is a state regulation that prohibits jockeys from wearing advertising or promotional symbols that the commission deems "are not in keeping with the traditions of the turf."

The jockeys' suit asks a Jefferson County Circuit Court judge to strike down the regulation.

An attorney for the racing commission said the jockeys' true motivation is the prospect of lucrative marketing deals. Without the regulation, jockeys would be covered with promotional patches "like a NASCAR driver," said attorney J. Bruce Miller.

The state restricts such symbols and requires jockeys to wear white or light breeches to make it easier for stewards to monitor races, Miller said. A rainbow of ads, he said, would have complicated the review of this year's Derby, when stewards scrutinized whether jockey Jose Santos had anything other than a whip in his hand when he won the race aboard Funny Cide. Santos was cleared.