- Jamie Kah has been banned from horse racing for three weeks
- The champion jockey was found guilty during a court hearing
- Kah will miss part of the Melbourne racing season as a result
Jamie Kah has been suspended for three weeks for her handling of Let’sfacethemusic during the Group 3 McNeil Stakes in August.
Kah has been found guilty of failing to compete with sufficient vigour and purpose in the final stages of her career following a hearing by the Victorian Racing Tribunal.
The ban will come into effect at midnight on September 28.
This means Kah will be out of action for major meetings including Turnbull Stakes Day, Caulfield Guineas Day, Caulfield Cup Day and The Everest, but will be eligible to race again on October 20.
In her ruling, Judge Kathryn Kings said the court was “satisfied that between the 175m and approximately 50m mark there was sufficient space and opportunity” for the jockey to ride her mount with “vigour or purpose to improve” her place in the race.
Racing Victoria steward Corie Waller added that it was “reprehensible driving” and “far below what would reasonably be expected of a rider in the same position”.
RV demanded a six-week ban, but the court agreed to three.
Kah said she was concerned about her control over the horse as its jaw was locked.
Champion jockey Jamie Kah has been handed a three-week ban from horse racing.
Kah was found guilty during a court hearing and will miss part of the racing season.
“Basically, when a horse locks his jaw, he pushes the bit back out of his mouth. If you try to pull the horse away from his heels, he’ll go the other way,” he explained.
‘You don’t have much control over the horse until he puts his head down and relaxes.’
Kah also highlighted the extremely windy conditions on race day but was judged to still have enough room to move between Stay Focused in third and Band of Brothers to improve his position.
Let’sfacethemusic finished fifth behind winner Growing Empire and Wonder Boy in second place.
Kah’s lawyer argued that his client was an experienced rider and had been seriously injured in a previous fall.
“What landed her in the ICU last year was a horse that she lost control of because it had a locked jaw and she lost control,” Stirling said.
“She knows the dangers of a horse that doesn’t have the confidence to run in a straight line, you’re talking about young, inexperienced horses here, it’s not Mr Brightside, it’s not Anamoe, it’s not I’m Thunderstruck, it’s not Another Wil…
‘Maybe I hesitated, maybe I even made an error in judgment, because we all know now, in retrospect, that the runway remained open.
‘Her instincts at the time were that she lacked confidence to go out and run with that particular horse in those windy conditions… she’s not to blame, she was being confident and cautious.’
The charge comes after a terrifying run for Kah, which began with a shocking fall at Flemington in March that left her with a serious brain injury.
When she emerged from a five-day induced coma, Kah didn’t know who she was and had to Google her name to find any information about her.
The injury kept her out of racing for five months and she only returned to riding in August.
Kah was also embroiled in a “white powder” controversy after photos appeared to show her collecting a line of a mysterious substance on social media in June.
The story broke just a day after she announced her return to racing.