Geraghty and Pipe cleared on appeal Martin Pipe got a welcome boost yesterday when he won his delayed appeal against a penalty imposed after one of his horses was judged not to have run on its merits.The 11-times champion jump trainer overturned a #2,000 fine imposed on him last month after the Cheltenham stewards found his Magnus had not been ridden to obtain the best possible placing in the Coral Eurobet Cup.Jockey Barry Geraghty also had a 12-day ban for his riding of the gelding quashed. And Magnus himself, hitherto most famous as the most expensive jumper bought at public auction after fetching #340,000 to join Pipe from France last autumn, had a 40-day suspension lifted as well.Pipe took the case to the Jockey Club disciplinary committee as he was adamant he was innocent of any wrong-doing when Magnus trailed in 25th of 26 finishers at Cheltenham, in a race won by stable-companion Ilnamar.And after a hearing at which Pipe was legally represented and which went on from 2.30 pm until 7.30pm, the committee found in his favour, revoking the punishments handed out at Cheltenham.Neither Pipe, who emerged stony-faced from the inquiry, nor Geraghty, whose illness caused the appeal hearing to be put back from its original date of March 28th until today, would make any comment other than saying: 'Justice has been done.'The committee found that Geraghty asked the gelding for an effort approaching the sixth flight but subsequently found him lifeless with nothing more to give.He therefore did not persevere and allowed him to come home in his own time. So they cleared both jockey and trainer under rules 158 and 155 (ii) respectively.
