IPOH,  1 March 2008

Apprentice J Nizam has begun serving a four-month suspension over his handling of GOLDEN RULE after he withdrew his appeal against the sentence.

GOLDEN RULE finished second, beaten only three quarters of a length, to CONSTIDAAD in a Class 4, Div 5 - 1200m race at Sungei Besi on Feb 10.

At the conclusion of an inquiry on Feb 15, Nizam, the rider of GOLDEN RULE, was found guilty of a charge under MRA Rule 44(10) for failing to ride to the satisfaction of the Stewards. The particulars of the charge were that whilst riding GOLDEN RULE in the above race, he dropped his whip at approximately the 200m mark for no satisfactory reason and thereafter, he failed to ride his mount with sufficient vigour.

When deciding on penalty, the Stewards took into account the facts of this case, Nizam’s points of mitigation and his record. Nizam was suspended from riding in races for a period of four months. Nizam subsequently lodged an appeal on Feb 15.

However, two days later, he applied to withdraw his appeal.

After consideration, the Racing Stewards acceded to his application and his deposit was refunded. His suspension commenced on Feb 18 and will expire on Jun 17, both days inclusive.