Top jockey Linda Meech will miss a month of racing after stewards found her guilty of not giving her mount every chance of winning a race at Geelong last month.
At the conclusion of the three-week enquiry on Friday, Meech was suspended from 15 June to 16 July for breaching AR129.
The enquiry found that Meech, who was riding Forever Juene in the 1300m maiden at Geelong on 22 May, failed to ride with sufficient vigour and purpose to obtain a position between Testy Nic and Helter Peltzer at a key stage between the 400m and 300m where there was sufficient room and when it was reasonable and permissible to do so.
Instead, Meech steered the Tom Dabernig-trained mare to the outside of those runners and she finished powerfully to finish second at $11, a long neck behind the winner On The Loose ($3.30 favourite).
Stewards took into account Meech’s guilty plea, her forthright evidence throughout the inquiry and her blemish-free integrity record in determining the length of the ban.
The Group 1 winner has enjoyed another successful season in the saddle with 97 wins – her best season tally since 2018/19 when she set a personal benchmark of 141 winners.
