Darley Loses 10-Day Ban Appeal

Kevin Darley´s appeal against a 10-day suspension collected at Ayr last week for failing to ride out for third place in a five-runner maiden fell on deaf ears at the Jockey Club today.

The rider´s ban, which starts tomorrow, was confirmed after an hour-long disciplinary panel hearing at Shaftesbury Avenue this morning, where the deliberations took less than five minutes.

The panel were unanimous in rejecting Darley´s explanation that he had ridden his mount out all the way to the line while at the same time being considerate over the colt´s welfare.

Darley told the hearing that he had not made an official report (H24) about his concerns for Meaningful because he had not seen the stipendiary steward after the race and that the horse 'was totally sound and hadn´t bled after I had pulled him up.'

The stewards found that he had breached rule 156 (i), in as much as he had 'failed to ride out approaching the finish on a horse who would have been placed first, second, third, fourth or any other placing for which there is prize money.'

Darley left the hearing dejected at the news that he will definitely miss next week´s Glorious Goodwood meeting and the big ride on Attraction in the Prix d´Astarte at Deauville on July 31.

'I will be quite frank and say that I have been made an example of today, particularly in the light of recent examples,' he said.

'My credibility has been put in doubt and they have basically called me a liar. I am extremely disappointed.

'I can hardly believe it because it sends out totally the wrong message.'

While it was clear from the video evidence that Darley had ridden the horse, the Mark Johnston-trained two-year-old, less vigorously for two strides inside the final furlong, Darley argued that he had been concerned over the horse´s welfare.

He told the panel: 'What I am trying to do is balance the needs of the horse with the need to obtain the best-possible position.

'I didn´t stop riding the horse but he was giving me the vibes that something wasn´t right.

'He was hanging to the left as soon as I started to apply pressure. If I hadn´t have grabbed hold of his head then he would have almost hit the rails.'

Darley had repeated these concerns at the initial racecourse inquiry.

'I just had the horse´s best interests at heart,' he had said, adding: 'I

was being as kind as I could.'

He said that the effort he had made to get his mount to push his head forward on the very final stride was evidence of his trying to secure the best possible placing.

But the panel ruled today that it 'did not accept Mr Darley´s explanation that the colt was hanging all the way to the line, which prevented him from riding out to the finish.'

Darley was represented by Rory Mac Neice, who took the opportunity to tell the panel that they were 'sending the wrong message out.'

He said: 'The next time a jockey is concerned about the welfare of their horse, this decision says that they have to keep going.

'It is simply an astonishing decision, because it shows a lack of understanding and I imagine that welfare groups will be taking a close look at it. This decision says `win at all costs´.

'You´ve got to look at the costs to Kevin here. He will miss a lot of fancied rides at Goodwood next week when the result didn´t affect punters because there were only two places in the race and it cost less than #400 difference in prize money.

'By not accepting his explanations today, the same explanations that he made in the inquiry at the time, they are effectively saying that he has lied. But by returning his deposit money they are at the same time saying that he had valid grounds for appeal.

'It´s just a bad decision, the worst hearing I have been involved with.'

In response, Jockey Club public relations manager Paul Struthers said that the rules were clear over the obligation for any jockey to report welfare concerns.

He said: 'It is quite clear under Instruction H24 that it is a jockey´s responsibility to ´report anything that affects their ability to ride to obtain the best possible placing´ when weighing in and not during an inquiry.

'Where a rider has concerns over the welfare of a horse we are in no way suggesting that they should ride out to line regardless.'

? PA Sport