Turner given three-month ban for bets
Jockey vows to return to riding next season Top Notch lands odds in Peterborough Chase
Hayley Turner had her riding licence suspended for three months by a British Horseracing Authority disciplinary panel yesterday. However, she confirmed that she would definitely resume her career when it finished in the spring but whether that is in France, where she can claim a 2kg allowance for being female, or here she has yet to decide.
When Turner, 34, the most successful British female jockey, retired in 2015 she opened up an online betting account for the first time. A member of the ITV racing team, last summer she resumed riding to take advantage of the change in the rules in France but continued to have small bets, although not on her own mounts or in races in which she rode.
“I’m a bit disappointed,” she said afterwards. “I thought they could have been more lenient but at the end of the day I messed up and people will learn from this lesson. I had planned to ride in France over the winter, but obviously I won’t be doing that.
“I’ve put my hands up from the word go. When I was actively riding I would never have a bet. I respected the rules for the 15 years I’ve been riding. But when I’m doing media I’m retired, in my head I’m not a jockey and so it’s OK to have a bet. They were small bets, £5 here, a tenner there.”
Speaking about the future she said: “I fully intend to keep riding. I’ve got the bug again and I’m riding plenty of winners. More importantly I’m enjoying it again.”
The BHA’S chief regulatory officer, Jamie Stier, who pointed out that the guideline entry point for such an offence is normally an 18-month ban, which would rule out her riding out or going racing, said: “It’s a strict requirement under the rules of racing in Britain that licenced jockeys do not place bets on any races.”
Top Notch had little trouble in winning the rescheduled Peterborough Chase at Taunton yesterday. The 4-9 shot beat his stable companion Josses Hill by a cosy 3¾ lengths. Trainer Nicky Henderson said: “I was delighted with both of them, Josses Hill jumped beautifully out in front. The ground was probably sticky enough for both. If it wasn’t for Bristol De Mai [also owned by Simon Munir and Isaac Souede] I would have been gagging to have a go at the King George.”
If Top Notch’s odds were a bit cramped the card did have a 100-1 winner in Samuel Jackson, a first runner for Richard Mitford-slade, who only received his permit two weeks ago.