Jockeys may be facing greater punishments for causing interference as one consequence of Wednesday’s appeal hearing at which Simple Verse was reinstated as the St Leger winner. Both the filly’s relieved connections and the sport’s ruling body appear satisfied that British rules on interference are worded as they should be but suggested suspensions for riders could be lengthened to increase the deterrent effect.
Simple Verse won the recent Classic by a head from Bondi Beach after interfering with him twice in the final quarter-mile and the Doncaster stewards felt they had to disqualify her. But an appeal panel felt differently after a three-hour hearing at the offices of the British Horseracing Authority and reinstated the filly as the winner, arguing that the outcome had not been affected by the interference she caused.
That means that Qatar’s Sheikh Fahad has won his first Classic after all and he was congratulated in his absence by many of those involved, including Aidan O’Brien, trainer of Bondi Beach. But Ralph Beckett, who has now trained his third Classic winner, expressed as much anger as satisfaction.
“It’s not quite the same,” he said. “It’ll never be quite the same. To have it taken away on the day was horrendous at the time. It’s been a pretty miserable 11 days.”
Asked if he had any sympathy for the Doncaster stewards in having to reach a quick decision between races, Beckett replied: “No, none, absolutely none. They completely ignored Bondi Beach’s role in the interference. They made no reference to it. The incident at the half-furlong pole was set off by Bondi Beach leaning in on her.”
Beckett said he was happy with the current rules, when correctly applied, but added: “What I would do, personally, is make the suspensions for jockeys longer. That’s not going to be a popular view but, if you want to cut down on interference on the track, you’ve got to be tougher on the jockeys. Keep the rule as it is and give them longer suspensions.”
That provoked a brief look of bemusement on the face of Simple Verse’s jockey, Andrea Atzeni, sitting close to Beckett at the time. Atzeni was given a three-day ban by the race-day stewards for the interference he caused Bondi Beach, when forcing his way out of a pocket two furlongs out.
The risk of Wednesday’s verdict is that jockeys may now feel emboldened to do such things more often, expecting that a ban will follow but that they will keep the race for their connections if reaching the post first. That is the more true in view of the fact that Atzeni accepted under cross-examination from John Kelsey-Fry QC that he had deliberately pushed Bondi Beach aside in order to extricate himself. The jockey said this was justified because his rival had leaned on him first.
A BHA spokesman said the current rules are “the best of those options available” and are designed to reward “the best horse”. However, he did appear to anticipate a possible ramping up of jockey punishments. “These penalties should contain a deterrent component,” he said. “If the current penalties are not achieving the desired outcome, then consideration could be given to reviewing them.”
The panel has yet to publish the reasons behind its verdict, beyond a short verbal statement that the two acts of interference did not make a difference to the outcome. But it appears they have sided with the argument put forward by Atzeni, who queried Bondi Beach’s resolution.
“My filly tries, she battles,” he said. “I think we could go another lap, he still wouldn’t get by her. He’s thinking more about getting in behind me than going forward. The best horse won on the day.”
But Atzeni, who was widely felt to be the less convincing of the two jockeys during the stewards’ inquiry at Doncaster, was again hesitant at this hearing and had to ask for an explanation of several questions he faced from the barrister on his own side of the argument. When Kelsey-Fry took up the questioning, Atzeni gave up so much ground that some of those present felt his cause was doomed.
Using the patient, pleasant and extraordinarily effective style for which he is known, Kelsey-Fry extracted from Atzeni an admission that he had deliberately pushed Bondi Beach out of the way in order to obtain a clear run. “But Bondi Beach started it by leaning in on me,” Atzeni insisted.
“All I did was get back on my line. If Bondi Beach hadn’t leaned on me, I’d wait for Storm The Stars to kick and then go with him. There was plenty of time and I was on the best horse in the race. He’s got no right to do that to me.” Atzeni went so far with this line of reasoning that Kelsey-Fry asked him if his manoeuvre had been a kind of retaliation, which the jockey denied.
Colm O’Donoghue, rider of Bondi Beach, was perhaps even more impressive than in the original inquiry. Assertive, determined and clear, he occasionally wrested control of the questioning from Graham McPherson QC, acting for Simple Verse’s connections, in order to make a point other than the one being put to him and confidently requested replays to be shown from particular angles to support his contentions.
It was to no avail, the panel siding with McPherson, who said of the initial contact at the two-furlong pole: “There’s no getting away from the fact that there is 440 yards from there to the line. The business end of the race is still ahead.”
McPherson also suggested that Bondi Beach would not have won whatever had happened. “This is a horse that, bluntly, is reluctant to go past,” he said.
The result was taken philosophically by O’Brien, who did not appear to relish the length of the hearing. Asked what he thought of the outcome, he replied: “I gave up thinking a long time ago.”
Sheikh Fahad was said to be “absolutely overjoyed” by David Redvers, his bloodstock advisor, who sat through the hearing. “There’s no question that it’s been a very tough 11 days for Sheikh Fahad.
“We had to jump straight on a plane to go to the Irish Champion Stakes, which looked a little bit at the time like we were running away from Doncaster but we weren’t at all, we had no choice. It’s testament to him that he got straight back up on the podium and presented a trophy so quickly after what was the greatest success of his racing career and also the greatest disappointment.
“And that’s the only sad thing. He and all of us here feel these things come about so rarely, when they come you ought to be able to celebrate them immediately and hard.”
Beckett’s attention will now turn to the case of Secret Gesture, another of his charges for whom he is making an appeal after she was the disqualified winner of a Grade One in the US. The appeal process has been completed and he has been told to expect a verdict in the next week.
