TARRANT'S SEASON IS FINALLY SHUT DOWN. APPEAL AGAINST A RECKLESS RIDING CHARGE IS DISMISSED

By Graham Potter | Friday, June 26, 2015

A season of significant success turned sour for apprentice Luke Tarrant today when the Racing Disciplinary Board dismissed Tarrant’s appeal against a guilty verdict on the reckless riding charge which was levelled against him following his ride on Jumbo Prince in the Group 3 Grand Prix Stakes at Doomben on May 23.

Tarrant’s penalty however was reduced from six weeks to four weeks ... although that consideration proved to be little consolation to the young rider.

“The time they give me was irrelevant. I didn’t care if they gave me fifteen weeks. I just needed that reckless verdict off my record,” Tarrant said after being handed the Disciplinary Board’s decision.

“I should have brought it up in the hearing (in mitigation) ... how having a reckless riding charge on my record will impact on my future in terms of being able to ride overseas, so this outcome is pretty devastating to me.”

Stewards had originally laid two charges against Tarrant for his Grand Prix ride on Jumbo Prince ... one careless and one reckless charge ... for what they deemed separate incidents which occurred from the start of the 2020m race (at the head of the straight) to entering the first turn after passing the winning post for the first time.

While covering that ground Tarrant angled Jumbo Prince in on an acute angle across his field after jumping from a wide barrier and 'inconvenienced' several runners.

Counsel for Luke Tarrant accepted that his client was culpable of a careless ride but argued against the ‘reckless’ charge.

Matthew Tutt stated: “Here we perhaps have a situation which has been flavoured by comments and conduct of jockeys early on in the inquiry.

"One must bear in mind that there can whole variety of reasons why jockeys might say various things, but the reality is when we get to analyse the field and set aside emotions we can see it for what it is ... which is a moderate degree of carelessness.”

The Disciplinary Board saw the matter differently to both the stewards and the defence.

Brock Miller read out the Board’s findings: “In our view jockey Tarrant rode the horse out of the barrier. He did so with little or no regard to the well-being and safeguard of his fellow riders.

“In our view the incidents in question (down the straight and into the first turn) should all be grouped into one event." (Not two incidents as proposed by stewards).

That is how the board proceeded to assess the matter.

“The actions of the jockey were such that by some minor miracle horses did not suffer far more interference and fortunately no one was injured,” continues Miller.

“In our opinion this is not mere carelessness on the part of the jockey. Jockey Tarrant was reckless ... and reckless to the degree as advocated by the stewards at their inquiry.”

With that finding in place, submissions were made with regard of penalty after which the board handing down the following decision.

‘The board appreciates that a period of six weeks (as originally imposed by stewards) is not regarded as the most severe type of penalty that would be imposed for a charge where a fall was to occur. That did not occur.

“Notwithstanding that, we’ve had Luke Tarrant address us.” (Tarrant acknowledged his relative inexperience in a field of the size in question as well as his inexperience with regard to the pressure of Group races).

“He accepted the fact that he is an inexperienced rider in races of this calibre. He seems to be forthright in his view that he made a mistake.

“In view of that (and his good disciplinary record over the last twelve months) we are prepared to reduce the penalty to four weeks, but, we have to say, we do view the extent of the recklessness to be at the severe end and not the minor end."

Tarrant, who had been riding on an extended stay of proceedings during which time he brought several notable winners, had arrived at the hearing looking pensive.

By the time he left the hearing his expression has hardly altered but his disappointment was now, understandably, almost tangible.

His season, which had already brought so much and promised even more, had finally been shut down with an unwanted and unwelcome exclamation mark.

A deflating end to what has otherwise been an uplifting campaign.

For the record, Luke Tarrant becomes only the fifth rider in Queensland to be banned on a reckless riding charge in the last twenty-five years ... that is from January 1, 1990 until the present time.

Jason Warrington was given a three month suspension in 2012 (in an incident which resulted in a fall at the Gold Coast). Masayuki Abe received a one month suspension for an incident at Toowoomba in 2008. Melanie Price was outed for a month in 2006 and Adam Russo got a ten meeting ban in 2005.

More articles