Marsh given six-month suspension for betting
⮞Huges pledges to support ‘very talented’ apprentice jockey ⮞ Dingle steps in for injured Griffiths on Dashel Drasher
Richard Hughes has vowed to stand by his promising apprentice Finley Marsh after the jockey was given a six-month ban by the British Horseracing Authority’s independent disciplinary panel yesterday for betting.
It has been one thing after another for Marsh, 22, who has not ridden since last November, when he failed to turn up to ride at Kempton, having been tipped off that drug testing was taking place. He had taken cocaine two days before. That resulted in a six-month ban.
He had already been under investigation by the BHA for betting over a 16-month period ending in 2019 after Betway notified the authority that, in contravention of the rules, he was placing bets on horses in his yard and some that he was riding.
As a result, he did not resume race-riding in the spring and, having effectively stood himself down for six months, was given only a sixmonth ban by the panel, which was not only sympathetic to what was clearly a gambling addiction but wished him well.
“He’s very talented,” said Hughes. “I’m standing by him – he’s a good lad. This has been hanging over his head for a long time, which hasn’t helped matters. This gives him a bit of closure and he can start looking forward now. He’s had a horrendous time but I don’t think he’s missed a day in the yard. He’ll be fine.”
A clinical psychologist described Marsh’s betting – over £5,000 – as “mindless” and intended as a means of coping with the difficulties of life rather than calculated. The jockey made no attempt to disguise his profession, having accounts in his own name with Coral and Paddy Power, but has sought to put that in the past now with help from the Injured Jockeys Fund and the Professional Jockeys Association.
Tomorrow, Rex Dingle steps into the hot seat normally occupied by Matt Griffiths on Dashel Drasher in the Chanelle Pharma 1965 Chase at Ascot, a course where Jeremy Scott’s eight-year-old is unbeaten in four starts including the Grade One Betfair Ascot Chase last February.
Scott said he would walk the course at Ascot tomorrow but that he hoped the ground would have enough cut in it to run Dashel Drasher. “I wish it would rain,” he said. “Traditionally, he has needed his first race of the season but we’ve done a fair bit with him at home and he’s been away for a racecourse gallop so he shouldn’t be a million miles off, although I’m sure he’ll improve for the run.”
Griffiths, who sustained head injuries in a fatal car accident on Exmoor at the beginning of October, is still recovering in a Taunton hospital. “He’s in good spirits and making progress,” said Scott.
Dashel Drasher faces five rivals including Master Tommytucker, who beat him first time out at Haydock last season.