Kim Bailey not inclined to appeal against River Don result and could consider Aintree for runner-up Moon Rocket

Kim Bailey is not inclined to appeal against the result of the River Don Novices’ Hurdle at Doncaster on Saturday after his runner-up Moon Rocket failed to get a reversal in the stewards’ room.

The winner Yellow Car, trained by David Killahena and Graeme McPherson, and the second, trained by Bailey and Mat Nicholls, drifted across from the centre of the track to the far side rail in the closing stages, with just a neck to split them at the line in the £75,000 race sponsored by Pertemps Network.

Moon Rocket’s rider Tom Bellamy was confident the result would be overturned in the stewards’ room. He said to ITV before the stewards' inquiry: “I will surely get that in my opinion. We jumped the last and I’ve been carried the whole way across.”

However, the stewards decided the result should stand, and on reviewing footage of the race, Bailey and his team are likely to accept the result.

Bailey said: “I don’t think we’re inclined to appeal. They didn’t touch and I can’t see how we can get it. Many people said they thought we would be awarded the race but I’ve watched the replay several times and it’s a difficult one.”

It was a first Graded success for claimer Nick Slatter, who was suspended for two days for careless riding by the stewards and could face a longer whip ban with the replay appearing to show eight strikes of the whip in the home straight – one above the permitted level.

Bailey said: “The frustrating thing is the winning rider may get a whip ban, on top of one for careless riding, and that is slightly annoying.”

Moon Rocket is a best-price 40-1 for the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival with Coral and Ladbrokes but is more likely to run at Aintree's Grand National meeting, where the Sefton Novices' Hurdle could be an option.

He said: “We were delighted with his run and he’s a smashing horse for the future. My immediate opinion is he might be more of an Aintree horse than Cheltenham but we’ll see.”

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