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Riding out a finish a circuit too soon is not uncommon at Fakenham.
And like you say Paul,had the decency to apologise.Where Samuel has totally cocked up is now every time he is interviewed,nobody will believe a word he says….’So Sam, Long Run will be running in the 2013 Grand National’ er Yeh he replys, and will DICK Pitman be in the saddle?
If i was a jockey i’d spin any old yarn as well. It was an honest mistake. He obviously wanted to avoid a ban that would rule him out of the King George. Long Run is important to him, as is the race itself. The thought of missing a King george because of a human error in a grade 5/6 race at Fakenham makes it very understandable why he would tell a wee porky pie. Fair enough ?
Bach Hall – that really is a strange outlook you have there.
It probably explains my extremely healthy blood pressure.
It would appear that I’ve got one thing right in 2011, although I obviously take no pleasure from it.
Re the punishment. Whilst I can see why the amateur ban rule is as it is, I do find it interesting that if you look at the breakdown of Sam Waley-Cohen’s rides, as far as I can see, he’s ridden in 9 races restricted to amateurs out of 30 rides under rules in 2011.
It is patently obvious to all that he rode a finish a circuit too soon. He actually looked over his shoulder for challengers on 3 occaisions, and certainly made no attempt to pull the horse up before the finishing line.
Which begs the question – why no further enquiry ? If the stewards don’t believe his excuse and so impose the ban , they must assume he’s lied to them. Fallon was fined for not giving full disclosure to Chester stewards
His father’s influence ?
Absolutely, he has patently lied to the stewards but they won’t do anything as they were probably all in the same house at Eton. Would never wish a fall on a horse but would not be too upset if SWC fell off Long Run in the King George in the most embarressing manner possible. Has the Amateur rule ever been enforced for anyone else? Very convenient if you ask me. If riding in a pro race, pro sanctions should be in force for all otherwise it is not a level playing field.
Yeah terrible!!! they should introduce lethal injection. Imagine any jockey telling the stewards porky pies and trying to avoid a ban.
Of course the guy is going to try and get away with it. When in the history of rule breaking did a jockey stand there and say nothing and not to try and defend himself? would need to be brain dead not to at least come up with something. Mind you taking one straight out of Brad’s book "How to not pull the wool over the steward’s eyes" isn’t recommended.
At the end of the day he messed up but without one thought of malice. To deprive a jockey of riding in any Group 1 race because of a silly mistake is unjust.
The fact a mistake like that can end a jockeys lifetime dream is bad enough but the fines it can produce are absolutely shocking.
Why the rules haven’t been changed to exclude Graded races for all jockeys amazes me. They gave the Belgian jockey his share of the prize money back for breaking the whip laws but had he been serving a ban he would have lost the money which is ridiculous amount to be possibly fined.
240,000 Aus$ I believe it cost Graig whatever his name was, who lost the ride in the Melbourne cup.
I’m glad S WC keeps the mount. Despite being a wealthy young man you can bet it would have broke his heart to lose the chance of winning the King George again. I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy.
- Total Posts 17716
If riding in a pro race, pro sanctions should be in force for all otherwise it is not a level playing field.
Isn’t the whole point of staggered suspensions for amateurs that they don’t gain advantage over regular riders?
Jockeys riding in the Humboldt County Marathon (a 2 mile race on a 4 furlong bullring
) used to use the old marble method. Take 4 marbles in the mouth, spit one out after each lap. Maybe Waley-Cohen should use that technique next time.I seem to recall a famous jockey of the time riding a furious ‘finish’ on an equally well known grey horse back in the 60s. He realised his mistake after passing the line and tried to galvanise the horse back into gallop mode. The horse was having none of it and he had to pull up. Sorry I can’t remember the names of those concerned and I’m sure it’s happened since.
I was at Ayr that day to see Eddie Harty do exactly as you describe on Stalbridge Colonist.
It’s always happened and probably always will. (asking them to count whipstrokes when they can’t count circuits)
I believe a certain man who rode Night Nurse couldn’t read or write. He was apparently a brilliant counter of fivers but in ended there. Love to have seen them asking him to count whip strokes.
I can remember Stan Mellor riding Stalbridge Colonist never knew Eddie Harty did but do remember him on Highland Wedding. I vaguely remember the incident. Didn’t they show it several times at the intro to the programme on tv?
If riding in a pro race, pro sanctions should be in force for all otherwise it is not a level playing field.
Isn’t the whole point of staggered suspensions for amateurs that they don’t gain advantage over regular riders?
In this instance, SWC clearly has gained an advantage. Actually don’t really care too much as we have had 2 examples, in less than a week, of the reason why the only amateur I have ever backed against the pros is Nina. Backing amateurs against pros will always be a mugs game and will lead to the poor house. Can’t agree that bans should not apply to grade 1 races BTW, punters confidence in the sport would sink even lower. The reason they gave Soumillon his money back, as I understand it, is that he was going to sue the pants off them for contravening the single market; wonder if Ruby or Barry Geraghty, being Irish based, would get their money in similar circumstances?
When all’s said and done, young Mr Cohen has been diminished in our eyes. Richard Pitman will be hopping if he thinks he might have been used as his stooge.
The trouble for Sam is that those cruel boys in the weighing room will be sniggering every time his name is mentioned. That’s hard enough to bear, but worse is the torment he will be going though right now.
Perhaps we should draw a veil over this sorry matter. You never know what it can lead to if a man is kept under pressure for too long.
I couldn’t help but laugh when I read this :-
"I’m delighted he’s riding," said Waley-Cohen snr. "He got given 12 days for his error and is not the only jockey to find Fakenham tricky. He’ll have served them all by mid-February.
If this was a court of law and he was a witness I wonder what the prosecutor’s next questions would be?
Perhaps he would ask: " Tricky huh? So what you telling us your son blatantly lied to the stewards about the horse making funny noises and that he simply messed up?" "Do you think such a dishonest person should be allowed to ride you being a man with such high moral standards"
Waley-Cohen snr should employ someone a legal advisor to edit his scripts for him before he gets someone hung…. silly old beggar.
I couldn’t help but laugh when I read this :-
"I’m delighted he’s riding," said Waley-Cohen snr. "He got given 12 days for his error and is not the only jockey to find Fakenham tricky.
If this was a court of law and he was a witness I wonder what the prosecutor’s next questions would be?
Perhaps he would ask: " Tricky huh? So what you telling us your son blatantly lied to the stewards about the horse making funny noises and that he simply messed up?" "Do you think such a dishonest person should be allowed to ride you being a man with such high moral standards"
Waley-Cohen snr should employ someone a legal advisor to edit his scripts for him before he gets someone hung…. silly old beggar.The old man has certainly let the cat out of the bag. The official line was that nothing was supposed to be tricky about the Fakenham circuit that day.
The Boy Wonder was supposed to be selflessly looking after the horse’s welfare, despite him blatantly looking around for dangers before he did so.
Come Boxing Day, Channel 4 will be all over "Wally" Cohen. Alice Plunkett will no doubt be suitably fawning over him and Alastair Down will just gloss over it, if it is him who interviews "Wally". No doubt "Wally" will grin sheepishly, shrug his shoulders and perhaps admit he had a rush of blood to the head "in the heat of the moment".
It helps considerably if you have got the right accent and the privileged background to be able to speak fluently on your feet and confidently while lying through your teeth.
It’s the way of the world, sadly. It’s apparently okay to pull the wool over people’s eyes if you have got the right background, education and accent.
I hope Kauto Star gets his revenge for last year and proves Long Run to be a flash in the pan. I’m not optimistic though. Could also turn into a nightmare for Kauto, despite the Haydock heroics.
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