Apprentice jockey facing 26 disqualifications for riding with incorrect claim

Apprentice jockey George Rooke could be disqualified from 26 races and lose seven winners as he faces a BHA-appointed disciplinary panel hearing on Thursday over his failure to report three winners in Jersey.

Rooke rode the three winners during July and August last year but did not inform the Racing Calendar Office, despite jockeys being obliged to report any victories outside Britain to the BHA within 48 hours of returning home.

Those three wins meant Rooke raised his career tally to six but, from August 11 onwards, he was riding with a claim that did not take those successes into account.

While he was still entitled to claim 7lb as he was below the threshold of 20 winners at which a jockey's allowance is reduced to 5lb, 11 of the races he rode in between August 14 and November 28 – one of which he won – had specific race conditions that resulted in him making an incorrect claim.

He rode in a further eight races, two of which he won, for which he was ineligible between November 18 and February 3 this year. Seven of those rides came in the Racing Excellence Apprentice Series, which was restricted to jockeys with no more than ten winners prior to November 15. Rooke, who had by then ridden other winners that are not being disputed, was above this threshold when taking his Jersey victories into account.

Rooke should have then ridden out his 7lb claim on February 17, but continued riding with that allowance until reaching 20 domestic winners the following week. During that period he rode in seven races claiming 7lb when it should have been 5lb, winning four of them.

Since March he has ridden with his correct 5lb claim and has had 11 winners.

The disciplinary panel will determine if he is in breach of the requirement to ride with the correct weight, and the requirement for jockeys to inform the BHA of winners outside of Britain.

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