TRIBUNE STARS Parents, coaches and rec league officials are invited to submit their sports stars of the week. Please remember that kids can appear only once a month. And if your star doesn't make it the first time, try, try again.

Jockeys, exercise riders and other racetrack workers could benefit from national insurance and safety rules, according to testimony yesterday to a congressional panel investigating inadequate coverage. But representatives of racetracks, including Churchill Downs, and horsemen's groups said such oversight would hurt racing.

Churchill President Steve Sexton said they support extending state workers' comp programs to jockeys and think track safety is best left in state hands as well.

"Trying to get a one-size-fits-all solution could be damaging," said Christopher Scherf, Thoroughbred Racing Associations executive vice president, regarding a universal health plan. "We could lose some racetracks and lose thousands of jobs."

Larry Saumell, Jockeys' Guild member representative, disputed Scherf's claim. "They throw it in your face. They tell us what days to ride and what time to be there," he said afterward.

Rep. Ed Whitfield, R-Hopkinsville, chairman of the oversight and investigations subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, questioned why the federal Interstate Horseracing Act shouldn't be expanded to require uniform rules.

"A lot of owners who are quite wealthy have told me privately that they think there needs to some federal controls and uniformity, but there are a lot of vested interest groups in this industry, and whatever you do you're going to meet some opposition," Whitfield said in an interview after the hearing.

Jockeys are guaranteed workers' comp coverage in four states -- California, Maryland, New York and New Jersey. Industry leaders from those states testified that they are at a competitive disadvantage to states, including Kentucky, that don't provide such benefits.

Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, chairman of the House committee, expressed reservations about national legislation but said members should be prepared to tackle the issue if racing doesn't find a voluntary solution.

"I have trouble accepting that in a $26 billion industry riders and other workers at the heart of the horse racing world, many of them, have to go to work each day without adequate catastrophic injury insurance that they've been promised," he said. "I think we all agree it's intolerable."

Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Michigan, said legislation is necessary "to deal with the failure of the employers -- tracks trainers and owners -- to provide their workers with the same on-the-job accident and disability insurance that many other Americans enjoy."

Stupak pointed out discrepancies between coverage for racetrack management and racetrack workers, many of whom are excluded from workers' compensation coverage because they are considered independent contractors.

Stupak asked Darrell Haire, interim national manager of the troubled Jockeys' Guild, whether riders would rather be freelancers or be allowed collective bargaining.

John Giovanni, guild president before Gertmenian, testified that in addition to helping craft New York's workers' comp fund for riders, he had lobbied Congress for a similar national plan to could cover most workers.

This is the second hearing Whitfield's subcommittee has held on insurance for racetrack workers. Last month, lawmakers grilled guild officials, including Gertmenian and vice president Albert Fiss, about financial discrepancies and the decision to drop accident coverage for jockeys in 2002.

The fallout from the guild crisis continues. Police were called to guild offices in California after a physical altercation between Gertmenian, Fiss and guild members following this week's guild vote to oust Gertmenian.

Barton said guild checks to disabled jockeys around the country last week bounced, while Gertmenian allegedly issued checks for $217,000 on guild accounts to himself and Fiss on the day he was fired. Meanwhile, the disabled jockeys' checks have now cleared.

This is cache, read story here