'I was very hard done by' - Kielan Woods' careless riding ban reduced on appeal

Kielan Woods has called on British racing to provide better footage for stewards' inquiries after a partial success in his appeal against a careless riding suspension. Woods could not persuade an appeal panel on Monday that he had done nothing wrong on his way to finishing sixth on Stigwood at Worcester recently, but his suspension was reduced to five days from the original seven.

Much debate during the two-hour hearing centred on the position of Mac Suibhne relative to his horse as they approached the bend out of the back straight, with Woods maintaining the other horse had never got alongside to the point where he ought to have been aware of his presence. He said he had left a gap between his mount and the Charlie Hammond-ridden Barely Famous on his inside purely because the field was approaching a tight bend and he wanted to make sure there was room for everyone.

He felt it was a mistake for Emma Smith-Chaston to seek to move into that gap aboard Mac Suibhne. But the appeals panel disagreed and directed its criticism at Woods.

"We find that the appellant did take a course, directing his horse towards the apex of the bend," said the chairman James O'Mahony. "We've watched the footage carefully and it's perfectly clear to us that he did take that course.

"It's his case that when he did that, he was only aware of one horse on his inside. Without any doubt, we conclude he at least should have been aware of Emma Smith-Chaston's presence. It follows that that is rightly considered to be careless riding."

Worcester: where the race involving Woods and his mount Stigwood took placeCredit: Edward Whitaker

Woods found some favour in pointing out that the inner rail bulges outward onto the racing line just before the bend, which he felt had contributed to "general bunching". He illustrated the point with footage he shot on his mobile phone the day after the race.

O'Mahony said: "Without wanting to criticise those who do a magnificent job of keeping courses safe, and put careful thought into the way they're maintained, we don't think the kink in the configuration of the inside rail was 100 per cent helpful to all concerned, in that it did have the tendency to push horses towards the right."

"I still feel I was very hard done by, to be honest," Woods said in response to the verdict. "I'm trying to do the best by everybody." His suspension will start on Thursday and he regrets having to miss out on rides from the Ben Pauling stable, which he says is "getting busy".

Rather than accepting O'Mahony's point about the rail, Woods felt that better-placed cameras would have clarified the relative positions of the horses involved. "It could have looked very different if they had the correct angle," he said.

"It's very hard to say somebody's somewhere if you're not looking at the correct footage. If you watch the Formula 1, they've got all the correct angles, everything. I don't see why we don't."

Read these next . . .

Coroebus misses Baaeed clash in Sussex Stakes following late setback

Baaeed the star attraction as Goodwood and Galway festivals dominate action

'He has the perfect profile' – why these horses can win at Goodwood or Galway

For all our exclusive free bet offers and must-have daily promotions click the free bets button or go to racingpost.com/freebets