NEWS ROUND-UP:TEENAGE JOCKEY Joseph O'Brien is set to miss out on nine of the remaining 15 days racing in the 2010 Irish flat season after a series of marathon Turf Club hearings yesterday seriously dented his chances of landing the apprentice title.
The son of champion trainer Aidan O’Brien is currently tied on 33 winners for the season with both Gary Carroll and Ben Curtis in a vintage scrap for the apprentice jockey crown.
However, his pursuit of the crown has been dogged by brushes with authority including on Monday at the Curragh when he picked up a three-day suspension for his use of the whip.
There was another blow yesterday when the Turf Club’s Referrals Committee dealt with three separate cases involving 17-year-old O’Brien, confirming a four-day ban for careless riding picked up on September 13th at Listowel and also handing out a two-day suspension for a whip offence that had been referred to them from that Listowel festival.
However, O’Brien’s appeal against another two-day careless riding suspension picked up at Dundalk on September 5th was successful.
The penalties add another layer of intrigue to the apprentice competition which saw Paddy Power pay out on O’Brien last week when they were convinced the power of Aidan O’Brien’s Ballydoyle stable would swing things the way of the trainer’s son.
In a marathon five hour plus series of hearings at Turf Club HQ on the Curragh, O’Brien was represented yesterday by solicitor Andrew Coonan and evidence was heard from the jockey’s father.
After winning his appeal against the Dundalk penalty, O’Brien’s team ended up appealing against the severity of the Listowel suspension which the jockey picked up as a result of his ride on Treasure Beach in a Premier Nursery.
Plans to appeal against the sentence in total were scrapped after a lengthy legal argument.
There was a further sting in the tail to the proceedings as a whip inquiry for O’Brien’s ride on Battleoftrafalgar at Listowel, which couldn’t be heard on the day due to the jockey having left the course, resulted in a further two days being handed out.
No blame was attached yesterday to the jockey leaving the track although they did severely caution his father for his riding instruction which the Referrals Committee felt contributed to a rule breach.
Yesterday’s hearings began at 2.10pm and didn’t conclude until 7.30 last night, after which Aidan O’Brien said: “We appreciate the time everybody gave us and we felt we had a very fair hearing. We are glad to have it behind us.”
Joseph O’Brien can appeal against the two-day whip ban he picked up yesterday, and against the three days he received at the Curragh on Monday.
His father last night said it was too soon to consider whether appeals would be lodged.
However, as a result of yesterday’s developments, O’Brien is currently set to miss out on October 16th, 17th, 20th, 22nd, 25th, 29th, 31st, November 6th and 12th. The flat season in Ireland is scheduled to finish at Dundalk on December 10th.
