A JOCKEY has been hit with an eight-week ban for an ‘absurd’ ride where he was ‘dancing about’ on the horse.
Callum McKinnes, 23, was deemed to have been ‘jiggling’ on 150-1 chance World Trip during a race at Hereford last month.
A disciplinary panel handed out the suspension under the non-trier rules.
McKinnes claimed he had panicked when he heard his mount – who finished fifth – make a ‘gargling noise’ on the run-in.
He said that was the reason for the ‘erratic movements’ he made in the saddle – and for not riding more vigorously towards the end of the race.
But Tim Charlton QC, who chaired the panel, said: “After the last hurdle in particular, we can only describe some of his actions as absurd.”
Commenting on McKinnes’ ride, Louis Weston, the British Horseracing Authority’s barrister, said: “He starts to make erratic movements with his arms, out of rhythm with the horse.
“What is he doing?
“He’s jiggling, dancing about. His horse reacts badly to it, for obvious reasons.
“That is no way to ride a racehorse.
“And then, as soon as he gets to the line, he rides normally again.”
McKinnes thought his horse was having difficulty breathing.
But the inexperienced jockey, with only 81 rides, said he did not want to pull her up because he felt she was responding to his actions.
A vet’s report later stated the horse had a breathing operation within days of the race.
McKinnes said: “It doesn’t look like my normal riding style.
“But I’ve never been in this situation before, a horse hanging with me and making a noise.
“You could almost say I panicked a bit.”
Pressed on why he rode in a way which made him go ‘bounce, bounce, bounce’, McKinnes said: “I’m not sure where it came from.”
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