Results – Kolkata

AMBAA (App Rajinder Singh) was fractious in its stall. Tr. Jasbir Singh was advised to give his charge adequate gate practice before accepting with it again. SUMANGALA (B Mahesh) was slow to begin losing approximately three lengths at the start. Tr. Shafiq Khan was advised to give his charge adequate gate practice before accepting with it again. Jockey Vinay Jaiswal, the rider of HAYNESTOWN, was reprimanded for improper use of the whip in that he repeatedly struck his mount on the shoulder with his whip in the forehand position. Mr. Javed Khan, the trainer of b g IJLAL when afforded an opportunity to explain the running of his charge, stated that he had instructed Jockey C Alford to be positioned 2nd or 3rd in the early stages of the race, however, should he find himself leading the field he was at liberty to continue to do so. He further stated that he was disappointed with the positioning of the gelding during the race. Jockey C Alford corroborated the instructions of the trainer and stated that soon after the start he was unable to follow the trainer’s instructions as he feared that in trying to do so he could be trapped five wide while negotiating the bend and hence decided to shift ‘inwards’ and follow BERNINI (Md Imran) who at that stage was well positioned. Unfortunately he had to ease his mount back as BERNINI was eased by its rider. However, in hind sight he admitted that he had erred by shifting ‘inwards’. The Stipendiary Stewards continued with the enquiry during the afternoon of 31st July and not being satisfied with the submissions made by Jockey C Alford decided to report him to the Stewards and charge him under Rule 161(ii) for the ‘injudicious handling’ of his mount in that soon after the start he failed to adequately persevere with his mount thereby not obtaining the best possible position for it as was instructed by the trainer and thereafter for shifting ‘inwards’ for no adequate reason thus placing his mount in a position of disadvantage. The Stewards held an enquiry after the last race and interviewed both Tr. Javed Khan and Jockey C Alford. The trainer when queried stated that as the jockey had admitted during the earlier enquiry to having erred in his judgment, he had no further comments to make. Jockey C Alford while putting up a spirited defence on his decision to shift ‘inwards’ acknowledged that he had erred. The Stewards after due deliberations, taking into consideration the Stipendiary Stewards recommendations and the jockey’s record, decided to suspend him from riding in races on 14th & 17th August, 2013 for injudicious riding. The jockey was informed of his right to appeal.