‘It’s awful, I look a mess’: jockey wins appeal over ban for ‘embarrassing’ ride

Two strides and a pixel in a dead-heat at Kempton last month were the subject of intense and prolonged analysis in front of the British Horseracing Authority’s disciplinary panel on Tuesday, and after nearly three hours of argument and counter-argument, the jockey Callum Shepherd got the result he was looking for as his appeal against an 18-day ban for failing to ride out to the line at Kempton last month was allowed.

Shepherd was appealing against a ban imposed for his ride on Thorntonledale Max in a seven-furlong handicap at the Surrey track on 21 August. His horse was in front two strides from the line, but Shepherd was much further out of his saddle than his opposing riders in the final moments of the race and his mount was joined by Flavour Maker, the favourite, on the line.

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Had Thorntonledale Max finished even a millimetre in front of Flavour Maker, Tuesday’s hearing would not have been required. The Kempton stewards, though, decided that Shepherd had failed to ride out all the way to the line, and that his mount had only gained a share of the spoils as a result.

Shepherd was represented at the hearing on Tuesday by the solicitor Rory Mac Neice, a veteran of countless similar hearings in the past, but it was the jockey’s first-hand account of the closing stages of the race, as well as his ability to give as good as he got when cross-examined by the leading sports lawyer Louis Weston, representing the BHA, which may have tipped the balance in his favour.

Weston argued that the finish was a clear-cut case of a jockey standing up in the irons a fraction too soon and forfeiting the win as a result. Shepherd, though, said that while he had become unbalanced in the final two strides, his horse’s momentum – and therefore the result – had not been affected.

“The first four smacks [of the whip in the finish], that’s Callum Shepherd,” he said. “Then, I could have been anyone because that’s just not how I ride. I’ve lost my distinct drive and just bounced in the saddle.

“It’s awful, I look a mess, a complete contrast to the previous four. I’ve lost my rhythm, my knees are out, it’s embarrassing to watch. But what is crucial is that we didn’t lose any momentum whatsoever. My riding style just fell apart in the final strides.”

When cross-examined by Weston, Shepherd did not agree with the BHA counsel that he was standing up in his irons at the line. “I wouldn’t say that, no,” he said. “My legs aren’t straight, but I’ve come up in them.

“I thought I had the race won, but there wasn’t a part of me that didn’t ride out fully to the line. I couldn’t have used my stick again without breaching the rules.

“I’ve said that I’m embarrassed by it, aesthetically it looks poor, but it didn’t withdraw any momentum.”

Announcing the panel’s finding that Shepherd’s appeal had been upheld, HH James O’Mahony, the panel chair, said that “on the balance of probabilities, there was a loss of rhythm and an imbalance that had some causal connection with the appearance, and the fact of Mr Shepherd rising above the saddle in the closing strides”.

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He added that “there was no apparent loss of momentum as far as the horse was concerned, and finally, we emphasise that this case is decided on its own facts and is in no way a precedent or a ruling on any matter of principle that may arise in future cases of this kind”.

The controversial conclusion to the race at Kempton came two days after what appeared to be a similar incident at Windsor, when James Doyle was beaten by a short-head aboard No Retreat, an odds-on favourite, having seemingly stopped riding out fully just short of the line. Doyle told the stewards that No Retreat had jinked and become unbalanced, and his explanation was accepted.