Hollie Doyle has two-day careless riding ban quashed on appeal

Hollie Doyle on Friday successfully appealed against a two-day ban for careless riding when partnering Darbucks at Wolverhampton last month.

At a lively hearing, the disciplinary panel determined that she had been clear when making her move and that Pat Cosgrave, who rode the eventual winner, Brazen Idol, had been seeking the same space before having to check his mount when it vanished.

Doyle, and her legal representative Rory Mac Neice, argued that Cosgrave bore some responsibility for his horse having to check as he was attempting to accelerate into the same gap at the same time. The hearing centred on whether Doyle had been at least a length and a half clear when moving right off the home bend in the 6f handicap, and whether she should have been more aware of Cosgrave’s position.

Doyle said she had made her move based on "natural instinct" as the horses in front of her slowed and she sought space to make a challenge, but insisted she was well within her rights to make a move into a position that Cosgrave was also seeking from his position behind her.

"It's a split-second decision and these decisions can win or lose you races," she said. "You do it on natural instinct and you do what you think is right. I felt I was clear of Mr Cosgrave and I was aware of what was going on around me. I didn't know he was behind me but I was clear of him.

"I had every right to go where I wanted but I do think it was his intended line. It was right that I was riding my own race and it's irrelevant whether I look [around to check] or not as I was clear."

Doyle was asked by panel chair James O'Mahoney whether riders needed to take into account what effect any move might have on the horses behind them and if "you have to ask yourself not only this but what the relative speeds are of the horses at the time?"

The Group 1-winner rider agreed that a jockey did need to do this and that "there were lots of horses in front of me going slower than I am . . . we ran into the same path."

Mac Neice concluded by stating: “The speed of Mr Cosgrave’s horse is a matter for him. Ms Doyle moves to her right and Mr Cosgrave continues to push his horse into a diminishing space.

“You’re not supposed to be racing on a road. It is also right to say that the jockey behind is not without an obligation and responsibility to ride in a way that responds to what is going on in front of them."

O'Mahoney accepted the point, adding: "And horses don't have speedometers, of course."

Neither side relied on evidence provided to the stewards by Cosgrave, who rode Brazen Idol to victory, as Weston told the panel: "We didn't rely on Mr Cosgrave's evidence in this case as it appears to contradict what happens in the video and because he won we do wonder if it was affected by that."

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