The rule that allows the amateur jockey to partner Long Run at Kempton despite a 12-day ban should be amended
The strange case of the swallowed tongue that looked for all the world like a cock-up by a jockey now seems to be history as far as the major protagonists are concerned. Sam Waley-Cohen, the rider in question, received a 12-day ban for taking the wrong course at Fakenham last week, but since the suspension applies only to days when there are races restricted to amateurs he is free to ride Long Run, last year's winner, in the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day.
That is a considerable relief toWaley-Cohen and to his father, Robert, who is Long Run's owner and takes great pleasure from seeing his son riding in ? and winning ? races like the King George and Cheltenham Gold Cup. It does seem a little strange, though, that while a professional ? or conditional ? jockey would have certainly been banned on 26 December and missed one of the biggest meetings of the season for the same offence, Waley-Cohen will sit out the early part of the hunter-chase season in January instead.
Waley-Cohen's explanation that he feared Otage De Brion, his partner in a handicap chase at Fakenham last Monday, had swallowed his tongue is, to some extent, irrelevant. His performance was in every respect that of a rider who had ridden a finish a circuit too soon, and despite the rule on amateur bans applying to days with amateur races, it may have gone through his mind that on an afternoon like Boxing Day, with eight scheduled meetings, there would be a race restricted to amateur riders somewhere on the programme.
The tongue-swallowing story would have been of significance only if the stewards had, well, swallowed it. They did not, and handed out an appropriate punishment. But it is one that, thanks to the rules, was not nearly as significant as it might ? and probably should ? have been.
Both the British Horseracing Authority and the Amateur Jockeys' Association seemed to accept this quirk as just one of those things, and it is certainly true that the golden age of the gentleman amateur rider in National Hunt racing is long gone.
But that is no reason to overlook the fact that when Waley-Cohen lined up at Fakenham last week against a field of professional jockeys, the worst that could happen to him was a whole lot better than the worst that could happen to his opponents. He was riding with a different set of penalties and that, in effect, means that he was riding to a different set of rules.
That is a dangerous situation for all concerned, even if it worked out very nicely for Waley-Cohen this time. There was no one anywhere near him when he appeared to kick for home a circuit too soon but imagine for a moment the firestorm that would have followed if he had, entirely accidentally, put Ruby Walsh through the wing of a fence, leaving him with a broken collarbone that would have ruled him out of the ride on leading rival Kauto Star in the King George.
Waley-Cohen could protest his innocence for weeks on end in a situation like that, and still there would be plenty of punters who did not believe him and many more who would jeer him all the way to the winners' enclosure if Long Run beat Kauto Star at Kempton.
Rules and penalties are two sides of the same coin and there will always be a PR disaster on the horizon if the punishment does not fit the crime. If amateur riders are to be allowed to compete in top-class races over jumps ? and it is a part of the sport's heritage that they can ? then they need to be riding to the same rules and penalty structure as the professionals. An amendment that says amateur bans apply on "amateur days" and Grade One days would be an obvious way to remove most of the potential loopholes.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2011/dec/19/sam-waley-cohen-king-george
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