updated 9:30 p.m. ET April 30, 2004

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Decades of tradition ended fast and furiously at Churchill Downs.

A day after being freed by a federal judge to wear advertisements, jockeys cut endorsement deals between races Friday while a seamstress frantically sewed logos onto their pants legs.

A number of riders will wear ads Saturday in the Kentucky Derby for the first time, including Shane Sellers, who will be aboard morning-line favorite The Cliff’s Edge.

“It’s a landmark,” said Sellers, one of five jockeys who brought the lawsuit that led to Thursday’s ruling.

And an eye-opener for two-time Derby winner Jerry Bailey, who said fans in the crowded paddock yelled the name of his new sponsor far more than they did his name or his horse’s.

“They were yelling, ’Hey Wrangler!”’ Bailey said. “I think the sponsors are getting more bang for their buck than they thought.”

Janice Campbell, who runs Jocks Wear in Lake Zurich, Ill., set up a sewing machine in the jockeys’ room to handle the sudden onslaught of logo requests. She was also sewing Jockeys’ Guild union patches onto the riders’ pants.

“There’s no telling how long this will go,” Campbell said. “Since the ruling, I would guess I’ve done about 60 pairs of pants — with a whole pile still to go.”

The ruling by U.S. District Judge John Heyburn II applied only to the five jockeys who sued.   Other states, including New York, California and Florida, already let jockeys wear ads and the guild patch.

Churchill Downs later said it would allow all jockeys to wear ad logos in the Derby — provided they were not “offensive” and didn’t advertise competitors of the track’s official sponsors. Casino ads also were banned. Because the riders’ silks are considered the owners’ property, the logos can only be worn on their riding pants.

Kelly Wietsma, a marketing agent for the jockeys who filed the lawsuit, said the riders will respect the so-called “house rule.” But she also said they might try to change it in the future.

“Don’t hand me a list of 36 sponsors and say, ’Don’t conflict with these,”’ said Wietsma. “There are sponsors who pay a few thousand dollars for a luxury suite for the Derby. I don’t think my clients should have to walk away from endorsement deals to not upset them.”

John Asher, Churchill Downs’ vice president of communications, said the track will consider each jockey’s case individually.

“We don’t have a hard and fast rule,” Asher said. “So far, we have had zero problems. We have every confidence that if any of them have a question, they will come to us.”

Since the ruling, Wietsma said she has been inundated with calls from sponsors.

“It’s so new, everybody wants to jump on the bandwagon,” she said. “It amazes me that 24 hours to post time ’Joe Dot Com’ wants his name on a jockey for as cheap as he can get it.”

The ads will be worn on the right pants leg, where the most TV exposure is possible.

Alex Solis, who will ride Master David in the Derby, wore a logo promoting Hpnotiq, a liqueur produced by Heaven Hill Distilleries in nearby Bardstown.

Company spokesman Mark Gunderson said the opportunity to advertise in the Derby was enticing.

“They are in the mix and are the focal points of this race,” he said. “If we can be associated with that — that excitement, that energy — that’s something that’s really attractive.”

Sellers, Wietsma and Gunderson would not reveal the terms of the deal. But Wietsma said the timing made any deal difficult.

“In the real world, you don’t put sponsorship relationships together that way. We really got backed into a corner,” she said. “But we put a message out to the world and the industry that this is going to grow.”

Still to be addressed is the owners’ stake. Wietsma said three owners who have horses in the Derby told her they support the jockeys’ efforts and would not ask for a cut of their deals. But she’s not sure other owners will be so accommodating.

No matter how future deals are affected, Bailey said he can’t imagine it won’t be a win-win proposition.

“I see what it’s done for NASCAR and the PGA Tour and they’ve risen to the forefront way beyond horse racing,” he said. “It’s a good thing for everybody involved.”