Bans reduced to cautions for jockeys who pointed fingers in Newbury incident

The four-day bans handed out to jockeys Page Fuller and Lorcan Williams for some protracted post-race finger-pointing at Newbury last week have been replaced with cautions, after an appeals panel ruled on Thursday their conduct was only just in breach of the rules.

Tweets were cited as part of the jockeys' defence to show that viewers who saw the Newbury incident on Racing TV had no concerns about the clash but were much more surprised the jockeys were punished for it.

The reaction on Twitter became relevant because racing's rules do not define what might constitute improper conduct and so the panel settled on a dictionary definition of 'unseemly or not in accord with accepted standards'. "Viewers simply didn't have an issue with what they saw on the film," said Rory Mac Neice, representing the jockeys.

Describing the incident, Fuller told the panel what happened in the moments immediately after she won the handicap hurdle aboard Our Dot's Baby, in which Williams finished unplaced on Confirmation Bias.

"Lorcan came over to me. He was, not angry, but he thought I'd cut him up on one of the bends," she said.

Post-race 'verbal altercation' between warring jockeys caught on TV

"I didn't think his words were justified. I was pointing to the bend earlier in the race where he had ridden in a similar way. I didn't think I was riding any different to how he was. I was standing up for myself. It was just a frank conversation."

Williams agreed Fuller had been pointing at part of the track rather than directly at him, although he acknowledged he had been pointing directly at his fellow rider.

"I had a strong opinion on what happened in the race and I really wanted to get my point across. If you look at the other jockeys, there was no-one reacting to it, so the conversation couldn't have been that interesting or loud."

The pair said they had apologised to each other soon after returning to the weighing room, although Fuller said this apology had related more to what had happened in the race than their disagreement after it. But both became worried when the stipendiary steward Chris Rutter told them there would have to be an inquiry and that the footage "does not look good".

Lorcan William (left) and Page Fuller during the altercation after Friday's race at NewburyCredit: Racing TV

"That contaminated the entire process," said Mac Neice, who argued that the jockeys' profuse apologies at the subsequent inquiry stemmed from the alarm they felt at being told this by an authority figure. Mac Neice suggested to Rutter he had prejudged the inquiry, which the steward denied.

The panel ruled that the behaviour, while rule-breaking, was "at the bottom end of the scale".

"They were clearly pointing at each other and it continued for about half a minute," said the panel chair, Philip Curl, a former judge. "It was in front of the TV cameras, which they both knew or should have known were there."

Williams is now free to ride in the Midlands National, with Trucker's Lodge – on whom he won last year – a possible runner again a week on Saturday.

Williams said that relations had not suffered between the two jockeys. He added: "Me and Page are absolutely fine, no problem whatsoever. We've seen each other at the races since then and not one of us has felt intimidated or anything and we've been absolutely fine."

On a busy day for the panel, the County Durham trainer David Thompson was fined £1,850 over positive tests returned by two of his runners.

Thompson was granted some leniency from the panel, which fined him the lowest amount available under BHA guidelines, because of what Curl described as a "really quite unconscionable" delay in bringing the case, which arose from races in the summer of 2018.

Curl accepted Thompson's statement that his health had been adversely affected by the stress of having to deal with such a protracted investigation, following soon after the death of his wife from cancer.

Both Highwayman and London Glory tested positive for diisopropylamine, which was not found to be in any feed at the yard or any medication they had been given. However, the BHA found deficiencies in Thompson's record keeping, for which he was also fined.

The BHA's Andrew Howell said the delay had been caused by "a multitude of issues", including the need for a wide-ranging investigation in search of a source for the substance, followed by a change of case handler, logistical difficulties caused by Covid-19 and finally Thompson's need for legal advice when faced with charges.

In a further hearing, apprentice rider Darragh Keenan was given a 15-day totting-up ban for repeated whip infractions, although five days were deferred.

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