COLIN KEANE’S mistake could have been any jockey’s mistake, has been in the past and will be again in the future.
After riding a 13-2 winner for Ger Lyons in Wexford on Saturday the jockey forgot to weigh in.
The consequences of that error were pretty heavy, Keane and Lyons were stripped of the win, the owners were stripped of their prize money. Ditto the punters and to compound everything, the jockey was hit with a 10-day ban.
It has since emerged that the jockey was distracted by a conversation while walking to the Weigh Room and realised too late that he had passed the point of no return by entering the changing room.
Once you cross that line there is no way back. I came within inches of making that mistake when I rode in America so I know how easily it can happen and, in Keane’s defence, I feel in Ireland the area around the Weigh Room is not as regulated as it should be.
People with no call to be in that area should not be able to wander about, or even into the Weigh Room, in the company of a jockey. Regardless of this situation, that’s a distraction when you are trying to prepare yourself for the next race.
Then there’s the punishment. Okay, you make a mistake and there are repercussions. Jockeys know that better than anyone. We don’t like bans and we take more on the chin than we should, but I don’t see any application of common sense in stripping owners and trainers of the prize money.
The race was won fairly, let the result stand, hit the jockey with the ban if you must, but let the result stand. The prize money was fairly earned.
My own week was less contentious.
I rode a 5/4 winner for John Quinn after finishing second on two of his rides in Spieta and Luccombe Down in Sedgefield. It was nice to get one back, over the sticks, and I was really impressed with how the horse dug in when we were challenged for the lead after the third from home.
Mr Gallivantor has the kind of guts that makes him one to watch over the coming months.
