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Jockey Jai Shankar was
suspended six months for foul riding for his handling of NO TIME TO WAIT in
a Class 4 - 1200m sprint here today.
NO TIME TO WAIT had
finished second to BAMBAAZON (Flying Spur - Treasury Gardens by Bellotto)
but after the race, the chief stipendiary steward lodged an objection for
alleged interference at the 600m.
After considering the
evidence, the racing stewards upheld the objection, disqualified NO TIME TO
WAIT from second place and the placings were amended to read:
1st - BAMBAAZON (BN Shahrul)
2nd – SHANGHAI SAM (S Sandana)
3rd – SURE WE CAN (R Woodworth)
4th – UNDER THE RADAR (KT Cheng)
When questioned regarding the reasons for not lodging an objection against
NO TIME TO WAIT in this race, jockey Benny Woodworth, the rider of SURE WE
CAN, stated that when he dismounted, he had rushed to the entrance of the
inquiry room to complain against Jockey Shankar, the rider of NO TIME TO
WAIT, adding that he was at that time, very angry and distraught with the
whole incident and had forgotten to lodge an objection as a result. After
hearing Woodworth’s explanations, the stewards warned him that under similar
circumstances in future, he would be expected, as a senior rider to have the
presence of mind to lodge an objection, failing which action may be taken
against him.
At a subsequent inquiry, Shankar was found guilty of a charge of foul riding
under MRA Rule 44(9)(b)(i) in that whilst riding NO TIME TO WAIT at about
the 550m in this race, he deliberately angled his horse’s head towards the
running rail thereby crossing SURE WE CAN, resulting in Woodworth having to
check his mount severely and losing his rightful running. This also resulted
in horses SUPER LINK, MIGHTY MIDGET and MAGICAL KINGDOM to suffer varying
degrees of interference.
When deciding on penalty, the Stewards took into consideration the facts of
this case, Shankar’s previous record and points of mitigation. Shankar was
suspended from riding in races for a period of six months with effect from
tomorrow and to expire on September 21, both days inclusive. He was advised
of his right of appeal.
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