For a sport that is watched and punted on at almost every pub in Australia, there are, ironically, still many aspects of thoroughbred racing that don’t pass the simple ‘pub test’.
The latest has been on show in recent weeks with the way that two jockeys in two different states have been penalised for two different offences.
On Saturday, Damian Lane received a 15-meeting suspension for breaching the contentious whip rule.
Lane hit Aeliana, who finished second to Mr Brightside in the G1 Makybe Diva Stakes, on 10 occasions prior to the 100m – five times more than what is allowed under the rule.
Sure, he broke the rules but neither a hardened racing fan nor a casual observer of a few feature races on a Saturday would’ve watched the race live and immediately taken issue with Lane’s conduct.
The rule exists for perception reasons and aims to safeguard racing’s social license within the community, which is vitally important.
There is a standardised template for how stewards deal with breaches, based on how many times a jockey uses the whip above and beyond the five allowed before the 100m. A jockey’s record is also factored in and the status of the race also determines how hard the stewards are on the offending rider.
Of course, we don’t want jockeys over using the whip but the real-world implications of Lane breaking the rules on Saturday were minimal.
The 15-meeting suspension will see the jockey miss Friday week’s G1 Manikato Stakes meeting, including the ride on star mare Treasurethe Moment in the G2 Feehan Stakes.
Contrast that with the month-long suspension recently handed down to Sydney jockey Tom Sherry for his part in the Up And Coming Stakes fall that brought down fellow rider Dylan Gibbons.
Tragically, Gibbons’ mount Tyreek suffered a fatal injury in the incident.
Sherry was hit with a careless riding charge, under which there is also a framework for stewards around the country to suspend riders. Generally speaking, if you cause a fall, you get a month holiday from the stewards.
Context, including whether any horse or rider is injured and how the interference is viewed publicly, is rarely factored in.
Additionally, the line between careless riding and reckless riding is ambiguous so stewards, more often than not when dealing with cases that could be considered the latter, go for the lesser charge to make sure it sticks.
This is not an attack on Sherry but it doesn’t feel right that he only serve an extra couple of weeks on the sidelines than Lane, given the action and the outcome.
The pub’s front bar isn’t the stewards room but often, there is no place like it for fairness and equity.
