Seven jockeys banned at Sandown for allegedly ignoring a stop-race flag have won their appeals and will be able to take part in races throughout the Christmas period. “We’re all delighted,” said Harry Skelton, adding how important it was for he and his fellow riders to be vindicated in this way. “No jockey wants to put anyone at risk.”
Racing’s procedures for stopping a race must surely now be reviewed and improved. The British Horseracing Authority, arguing against the appeal, insisted Sandown staff had correctly followed procedures in deploying a single yellow flag when it became clear the London National would have to be stopped on 7 December. This was because the veteran Houblon Des Obeaux collapsed on the first circuit and was being treated by vets on the track as the runners returned towards the same spot.
BHA officials were confident the 10-day bans meted out to each jockey by the raceday stewards would be upheld, arguing the flagman was clearly visible to jockeys as they rode towards the third-last fence. But all seven jockeys said they did not see him and they were believed by the appeals panel, despite the ruling body’s assertion that at least some were lying.
“It is clear that none of the jockeys has lied,” ruled the panel chairman, Tim Charlton QC. “We find they did not see the flag. This was 12 minutes before sunset on an extremely murky day. The flag was not being waved in a sufficiently showy manner to give the best chance of attracting the attention of the jockeys.”
The ruling came at the end of a full day’s hearing, a surprise in itself to officials, who had scheduled another case for the hearing room at 1pm. It was a tetchy affair from the outset, the jockeys’ solicitor, Rory Mac Neice, scolding his BHA opposite for what he deemed a display of petulance early on and then telling a witness his evidence was “complete nonsense”.
Mac Neice unpicked the case against Skelton, Daryl Jacob, Jamie Moore, Adam Wedge, Stan Sheppard, James Davies and Philip Donovan. He described attempts to stop the race as “a pretty poor plan that wasn’t very well executed. You cannot expect to stop a horse race with a solitary flag that isn’t being waved. There is a low-tech fix. You just need more flags.”
Davies and Jacob were especially convincing in arguing that they could not possibly have seen the flag from their positions behind the leaders. Moore and Skelton, in the front rank, were more obviously at risk of sanction but in the end no case has been proved against them. All said they had opted to bypass the third-last because they heard a whistle and saw screens up around what they imagined to be a stricken horse on the landing side; only when they got past the fence did they see that the screens were further down the track.
Lingfield 12.10 Agent Of Fortune 12.40 Broughton Sunpearl 1.10 Little Miss Lilly 1.45 Griggy (nb) 2.15 Shimmering 2.50 The Jean Genie 3.20 Guroor
Newbury 12.20 Fraser Island 12.50 Shishkin 1.20 Ready And Able (nap) 1.55 Magic Of Light 2.25 The Big Breakaway 3.00 Defi Sacre 3.30 Dreaming Of Glory
Ludlow 12.30 No No Maestro 1.00 Mr Antolini 1.30 Proper Ticket 2.05 Hatcher 2.35 Roll Again 3.10 Subcontinent 3.40 Lord Apparelli
Newcastle 3.45 Dancing Rave 4.15 Royal Nation 4.45 Xian Express 5.15 Gold Brocade 5.45 Pageant Master 6.15 Fortamour 6.45 Zebulon 7.15 Gowanbuster
Jockeys’ representatives insisted they still had great respect for Sandown officials and saw the BHA’s procedures as the problem, which they had complained about in 2017 after a similar incident at Perth.
The BHA said it would wait to see the published reasons before offering a detailed response. It pointed out the stop-race procedures were agreed with representatives of the jockeys and racecourses in 2008.