In a winter where suspensions in racing have been a talking point, another ban handed down on Thursday is worthy of discussion, with a jockey given fiveweeks for a front-running ride on a $101 shot.
Stewards and racing tribunals have had a busy time of late, handing out enforced holidays that seem to be either inconsistent, too harsh or in some cases, too light.
In Sydney, John O’Shea copped a four-month ban for his language and confrontation with a number of Racing NSW staff on track. He later apologised, but after an appeal, his four month ban stood.
In Victoria, Linda Meech missed a month of racing after stewards found her guilty of not giving her mount every chance of winning a race at Geelong in June.
But undoubtedly the most controversial was the ban handed down to Anthony and Sam Freedman.
Many within the industry were shocked when the Freedmans were only given a 28-day disqualification after being found guilty of raceday treatment breaches.
So light was the punishment, Victorian Racing Tribunal chairman Peter Reardon said it should not be seen as a precedent when punishing the Melbourne Cup-winning duo, saying they deserved special consideration given their explanations of how the errors were made.
Fast forward to Ballarat on June 12 and one jockey was given a longer ban than the Freedmans, after Stewards found Sarah Robbins went too hard on her $101 chance.
Robbins finished 7th in a field of ten in the race after Black Hex tired late over 1400m.
Stewards launched an investigation, and announced Thursday that they have decided to suspend Robbins.
‘’Stewards today concluded their inquiry into the ride of Sarah Robbins on Black Hex at the Ballarat meeting on the 12th of June,’’ the Stewards report said.
Stewards found Sarah Robbins guilty under the provisions of AR129 (2) in that she failed to take all reasonable and permissible measures throughout the race to ensure that Black Hex was given full opportunity to win or obtain the best possible place in the field, the particulars of the charge being that after obtaining the lead approaching the 1100m, S Robbins continued to urge her mount along which resulted in Black Hex setting a tempo that was not sustainable or reasonable.
‘’S Robbins failed to make sufficient effort to restrain and or steady her mount to allow Black Hex some respite from the extremely fast tempo set. In assessing penalty Stewards took into account, S Robbins personal circumstances, record and race riding history. S Robbins had her license to ride in races suspended for a period of five weeks, to commence midnight 15th of August and expire midnight 19th of September.
‘’Accordingly, S Robbins will be eligible to resume race riding on the 20th of September. S Robbins was advised of her rights of appeal.’’
So Robbins, on a runner the market rated $101, managed to beat three others home. Many would argue the horse exceeded market expectations.
Five weeks for this ride and therefore costing her the right to work – where there seems to be so much inconsistency across racing – is a big price to pay.
