Johnny Murtagh delays appeal decision
Johnny Murtagh spent this morning in front of a television. He was watching several video reruns of his victory on Starspangledbanner in the July Cup at Newmarket on Friday.
Not to give him a confidence boost before seven rides at Dundalk in the afternoon, but an idea of the merits of an appeal for the six-day riding ban he incurred for his manoeuvre early in the race, which he has to lodge by late this afternoon.
Breaking from stall 11, Murtagh angled his horse across to the far rail, which brought on a bout of follow the leader with another nine jockeys coming with him. That left William Buick and Showcasing with a prime view of a lot of horses’ backsides but precious little else as he was shuffled to the back of the field. Several other runners, most notably Prime Defender, did seem to have their chances compromised in the incident.
Straight after the race, which Starspangledbanner won by a neck, Aidan O’Brien, the colt’s trainer, hailed the performance of Murtagh as a race-winning move. “Johnny is a brilliant, experienced jockey. The stalls were positioned towards the far side and the natural way to go was towards the closest rail. It is never a disadvantage for a front-runner to have a rail to run against,” O'Brien said on Racing UK.
“I haven't seen the race again, but it looked to me as if he jumped and moved across when it was clear.”
What is clear is that the Newmarket stewards disagreed and ruled Murtagh out for the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes, where Irish Derby winner Cape Blanco is expected to run for O’Brien, and the first two days of the Glorious Goodwood meeting.
The rights and wrongs of jockey suspensions have come to the fore of late. The top jockeys themselves worry that the number of rides they take at this time of the season increases their chances of making the minor infractions that can lead to a major ban under the BHA’s totting-up procedure, where a jockey receives a lengthy banishment from the track as a result of the accumulation of 20 days’ suspension for the same offence within a six-month period.
Those wishing to promote the sport argue that having the major names of the weighing room missing from the marquee fixtures is bad for business, which is the reason why Richard Hughes will be sitting this week out. Hughes, who missed the middle day of last week’s July meeting because of a ban and will also be suspended for both Friday and Saturday of this week, has opted to effectively ban himself from the low-grade fare on offer when any suspension he might incur would start during the five-day Goodwood meeting under the 14-day rule.
Hughes, who won the Kingfisher Derby at the Bangalore Turf Club in India on Moonlight Romance yesterday, explained his reasoning when he said: “With the rules we've got, it's easy to pick up a ban for careless riding even if you're not to blame. A lot of races over the next few days are worth very little money so it makes sense to take a short break.
“Goodwood is one of the most important meetings of the year and I'd expect to have a lot of good rides. Canford Cliffs in the Sussex is the big one but there are plenty of other good races and I want to be there, not sitting at home.”
He also admitted that his riding tactics on Memory, when he brought the filly for a wide run to win the Cherry Hinton Stakes last week, had been in part motivated by the desire to avoid another ban.
“I was happy to get cover and a little gap came but I am so afraid of getting bans these days - nine times out of 10 I would have gone in there - but I just had to sit it out and go round.”
Getting around the problem is not that easy. The Rules are there to help keep what can be a dangerous sport as safe as possible and, unless one believes that the Newmarket stewards were unnecessarily harsh, the reality is that Starspangledbanner’s connections did profit from Murtagh’s tactics which were a breach of those Rules.
In France the horse would probably have been demoted but the interpretation of the Rules in this country, which attempts to give as much of the benefit of the doubt as possible to the winner being the best horse in the race, seems fair enough.
The self-policing by Hughes highlights what could be regarded as an anomaly thrown up by the totting-up procedure being based on a time scale rather than taking into account the number of rides that a jockey takes. The simple equation is that a jockey who rides in 400 races in six months is likely to breach the race-riding Rules more than one who has 100 rides in the same period on little more than the law of averages.
However, Paul Hanagan has taken a lead in the jockeys’ championship partly because he has kept out of the stewards’ room when the likes of Hughes and Ryan Moore have not. Perhaps his riding style could make for interesting viewing?
Tags: