Winning jockey suspended
Two of New Zealand’s best jockeys have been handed lengthy suspensions following an incidentpacked 2000 Guineas.
Winning jockey Opie Bosson will miss 10 meetings and the inform Jason Waddell has been outed for 14 following the 45th running of the Group I race at Riccarton on Saturday.
Bosson admitted a charge of careless riding stemming from an incident at the 1450m mark when he and race winner Embellish shifted inwards, badly checking Bostonian and indirectly Scott Base.
Waddell (Ever Loyal, which ran third) also admitted a charge of careless riding when he attempted to cross to the lead at the 1400m mark when not sufficiently clear of Star Treasure.
Star Treasure was forced inwards and badly hampered in the incident that saw him push down towards the rail and inconvenience Embellish, Bostonian, Lincoln Hills and Scott Base.
Importantly, Bosson and Waddell will not miss significant upcoming assignments on Saturday.
Bosson, who brought up his seventh 2000 Guineas victory with Embellish’s one and a quarter length victory in the $500,000 race, will not begin his suspension until the conclusion of racing on Saturday.
That means he will get a chance at a rare Guineas double when he partners Swing Note in the 1000 Guineas on Saturday. Bosson achieved the double aboard dual Guineas winner Katie Lee in 2009.
The last jockey to achieve the Guineas double was Matt Cameron in 2015 when he rode Te Akau pair Xtravagant and Risque.
Bosson’s victory on Embellish follows on from his previous victories in the race aboard Turn Me Loose (2014), Atlante (2013), Katie Lee (2009), King’s Chapel (2003) Buzz Lightyear (1999) and Danske (1998). Bosson’s suspension expires at the conclusion of racing on December 2.
Waddell’s suspension also starts at the completion of racing on Saturday but he will not return to Riccarton. Instead, he will be at Tauranga where he will partner champion galloper Kawi in the Group II Tauranga Stakes (1600m).
Waddell will return from suspension on December 9 to ride the Allan Sharrock-trained Kawi in the Group I Captain Cook Stakes at Trentham. Bosson was stood down following his Guineas victory with a thumb injury but is expected to pass a medical clearance to ride at Te Aroha on Tuesday.