Bookies pay out on Chris Johnson
The timing couldn’t have been much worse.
On the very day that bookmakers paid out on Chris Johnson to win the national jockeys premiership, the country’s leading rider has been handed another suspension.
Bookmakers announced on Saturday they were waving the white flag and paying out on Johnson but just hours later he copped a three-day suspension at Te Rapa.
Ironically, the Te Rapa meeting was Johnson’s first day back following a four-day suspension for careless riding that he served between Sunday and Friday last week.
With Johnson 16 wins ahead of his only realistic challenger Alysha Collett, bookmakers would not be losing too much sleep over his latest suspension but it does add interest to the final weeks of the season.
Johnson’s only winner on Saturday, a four-length victory aboard Francis Drake in race three, extended his lead over the second placed Danielle Johnson to 12. Importantly, Danielle Johnson, who did not ride a winner at Te Rapa on Saturday, has also conceded defeat.
She left for Sweden on Saturday night to ride in the inaugural Lady Jockeys’ Thoroughbred World Championship but has confirmed she will extend her stay with a holiday because she did not believe she could catch Johnson.
With Matthew Cameron already on holiday, the only danger to Johnson was Collett. At the conclusion of Saturday’s Te Rapa meeting, Johnson had recorded 106 winners for the season.
Collett picked up a winner with High Class in race four to advance her total to 90. Johnson, who admitted a charge of failing to ride out The Boy Wonder in the first on the card at Te Rapa, would miss three meetings but the suspension would not come into effect until after racing on Saturday.
Stewards deemed that Johnson stopped riding just before the post in the two-year-old race when there was a reasonable chance of finishing fourth.
Darren Danis and Eeny Meeny Miny Mo went up the inside of Johnson and The Boy Wonder in the shadows of the post to claim fourth with The Boy Wonder finishing fifth.
The Judicial Control Authority heard submissions from both sides before it suspended Johnson’s license from the conclusion of racing on July 8 through to the close of racing on July 15.
Johnson will be free to ride at either Ruakaka or Awapuni on Saturday. He can also ride at Matamata (Wednesday), Wanganui (Thursday) and Ashburton (Friday) before the suspension begins.
Johnson was not scheduled to be at Te Aroha on July 9 so would miss meetings at Avondale (July 12), Phar Lap (July 14) and either Te Rapa or Trentham on July 15.