- Jamie Kah has been charged by Racing Victoria stewards
- Jockey faces potential significant suspension
- Now he must prove his innocence at the court hearing.
Australian champion jockey Jamie Kah has been charged with a serious offence by Racing Victoria stewards following a lengthy investigation into a race at Caulfield earlier this year.
The 28-year-old was accused of not trying hard to achieve the best result while competing last month.
The rule states: ‘A jockey must take all reasonable and permissible steps throughout the race to ensure that his horse has a full opportunity to win or to obtain the best possible place in the field.’
Stewards analysed his run aboard Let’sfacethemusic in the Group 3 McNeil Stakes at Caulfield on August 31 and found he failed to accelerate through a gap.
“Between approximately 175m and 100m, Ms Kah did not ride with sufficient vigour or purpose to improve her position between Band Of Brothers and Stay Focused, where there was sufficient room and when it was reasonable and permissible to do so,” Monday’s charge reads.
‘And/or: For approximately the last 75m, Ms Kah did not ride her mount with sufficient vigour when it was reasonable and permissible to do so.’
The young jockey, who will now face a Racing Victoria tribunal, admitted she did not have a great career.
“I just didn’t feel like I drove very well,” Kah explained to Stewards.
Racing Victoria stewards have charged Jamie Kah with a serious offence
Kah was accused of not trying hard to achieve the best result while competing last month.
‘I saw (the gap) moving in front of me and I don’t know, I didn’t feel comfortable running.
“I don’t do races that don’t exist and at that point in the race I felt like there wasn’t a race long enough to do.”
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.
The appearance of the controversial images cast a shadow over Kah’s long-awaited return to horse racing.
Kah had a shocking fall at Flemington in March 2023 which left him with a brain injury.
Stewards initially charged her and another woman over the photos, alleging they breached a rule stating that “a person must not engage in conduct prejudicial to the image, interests, integrity or welfare of racing, whether that conduct takes place within a racecourse or elsewhere.”
“I’m working hard to get back to doing what I love, which is being a passionate and successful jockey,” Kah said afterwards.
‘I will continue to focus on my physical and mental health and making a full recovery so I can compete again and be the best person I can be.’
Kah was later cleared of any wrongdoing in the white powder scandal and vowed to focus on racing and being happy.
“It’s been the most challenging and difficult year, but I’m relieved to be able to put it behind me and focus on racing and being happy,” Kah told RaceNet.