Jockey Fined for Telling the Truth

[robert99]

Jockey, Danny Nikolic was fined for confirming, during a heated first inquiry, trainer Brian Johnson as having all the necessary skills of a top trainer ie a "—-head", "an absolute mug", an "imbecile" and "brain dead". Johnson formerly a notorious ex building constructor, once famed for building clients house 100 times too big, was flattered by the eulogy but annoyed that the courtesy wording of "Sir" had been omitted.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/fiery … 5894329271

"ABOUT the only aspect where consensus was reached in a combustible, expletive-laced and emotionally charged inquiry is that Danny Nikolic and Brian Johnston will never again have a racetrack relationship.
Nikolic yesterday declared Johnston to be the first trainer he had barred in 20 years; Johnston countered he would never again ask Nikolic to ride any of his horses.
Apart from that acknowledgment there was no common ground as both men rejected a raft of accusations levelled against each other.
Tellingly, Johnston said he never accused Nikolic of "stopping" Trustus, while the jockey denied calling Johnson a "f—ing —-".
Chief steward Allan Reardon and his stewards’ panel found that Nikolic had not breached any rule of racing on his ride on the Johnston-trained Trustus in the Winter Championship at Flemington on July 10, which sparked the trainer into lodging an official complaint.

But, Nikolic was fined $300 under Rule 83, which deals with misconduct, in that he described Johnson during the heated first inquiry as a "—-head", "an absolute mug", an "imbecile" and "brain dead".
Nikolic’s guilty plea and his letter of apology, handed to stewards at Caulfield on July 17, both weighed heavily in reducing the amount of the fine. It compounded a costly afternoon as his BMW X5 was sideswiped on route to the inquiry.
Stewards took no action against Johnston over his conduct in the stewards’ room, but warned him if he engaged in such provocative comments again it could lead to him being charged.
While insults and abuse zinged around the inquiry like a pinball machine, the inquiry wasn’t without its levity.
Johnston introduced Pythagoras Theorem to the inquiry as way of supporting his claim that Nikolic’s decision to allow the horse to drift from two horses off the rail to 15m wide in the straight had cost the horse 18m and therefore the chance to earn prizemoney.
RVL form analyst Andre Kassay, using Pythagoras Theorem, calculated Nikolic’s ride would have cost the horse 18cm.
Johnston protested strenuously citing his knowledge of Pythagoras Theorem from 25 years as a building constructor, but when steward Corrie Waller arrived at the same answer as Kassay, Johnston acknowledged he stood corrected."

[Anonymous]

Danny failed in that he didn’t acknowledge that he too is also a dick—-

A jockey that was always been entirely wrapped up in his own self importance. Is his brother still growing dope in the spare bedrooms? Are his ex bookie mates still laying Danny’s losers? I’m surprised any owner or trainer would touch the guy.

[Burrough Hill Lad]

Can’t imagine that any of next week’s televised steward’s enquiries at Goodwood will be as entertaining as this one

[OneEye]

This thread is titled, "Jockey Fined for Telling the Truth".

Isn’t this libelous?

It hasn’t been proved that the jockey was telling the truth when he called the trainer a d**khead amongst other things. Surely this is just a jockey’s opinion and not fact.

Therefore, the title of this thread should be, "Jockey Fined for Having an Opinion"

I’ll get my coat

[Author]

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