At Lingfield on Tuesday, four apprentice jockeys were given ten-day bans. The bans came about after they, to all intents and purposes, did nothing to stop a pacesetter from winning a race.
After the debacle of the 2020 Derby at Epsom however, should the same scrutiny have been applied to our top jockeys for a similar infraction?
Certain Style Wins Unchallenged
In the opening “Hands and Heels” Apprentice Handicap at Lingfield (11.10) on Tuesday, the Laura Mongan-trained Certain Style won “unchallenged” by some 22 lengths. The 28/1 scorer was upwards of 40 lengths clear at one stage of the race, and it appears those in behind did nothing to stop her winning under Tyrese Cameron.
Now it’s true that all five jockeys in this two-mile race were inexperienced. That’s to be expected. When Cameron sent his filly clear however, it appears absolutely nothing was done to rectify the situation from the challenging quartet.
After going well clear and being kept up to her work, Certain Style crossed the line easily in front with the other four coming home with less than a length between them.
| Pos. | Horse | Odds | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Certain Style | 28/1 | – |
| 2nd | Gold Aura | 10/3 | + 22 Lengths |
| 3rd | Upepo | 11/4 | + Neck |
| 4th | Shaad | 6/4 | + Nose |
| 5th | Grand Duchess Olga | 11/2 | + ½ Length |
An interview took place with stewards asking Warren Fentiman, Chloe Lyons, Kyle McHugh and Mason Paetel to explain themselves. They were subsequently found to have not taken all reasonable measures to obtain the best possible placing. Each was given a ten-day ban.
That ban is lower than has been handed out for similar individual offences in the past. The stewards on this occasion went with the entry point punishment given the inexperience of the riders on show. After the event, jockey coach Goerge Baker talked them through what they should have done differently.
None of us expect apprentice races to be perfect. The winning rider in fact had already been given a caution by the stewards for entering the wrong stall aboard Certain Style to begin with.
That won’t stop many armchair jockeys giving them hell on social media, but what is more bothersome is how a similar, but not entirely identical incident was not scrutinised by authorities in a wholly unsatisfactory Derby at Epsom in 2020.
Different Rules for Recognised Pros?
Anyone who remembers 25/1 shot and Aidan O’Brien ‘fourth string’ Serpentine walking away with the 2020 Derby will remember how frustrating that race was. In that situation too, the jockeys in behind simply allowed him a very large, easy lead and he didn’t come back to the pack.
Apprentices need to learn, of course. Punishment for misdeeds is often part of that learning curve. When the pros do it though, surely in many ways it’s so much worse as they all should know better?
The big names were interviewed after that race for TV and, rather disappointingly, some of the major jockeys involved closed ranks and basically told us all there was nothing they could do.
We know that’s not true. It was clear even visually that they allowed Serpentine an easy lead. By denying it, the jocks essentially told us mere mortals we don’t know what we’re talking about. But there was plenty of evidence to the contrary.
Oisin Murphy, brilliantly yet typically, broke ranks and was the only jockey to say on camera that they allowed Serpentine to go and as a group left it too late.
| Pos. | Horse | Odds | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Serpentine | 25/1 | – |
| 2nd | Khalifa Sat | 50/1 | + 5½ Lengths |
| 3rd | Amhran Na Bhfiann | 66/1 | + ½ Length |
| 4th | Kameko | 5/2 | + Nose |
| 5th | English King | 10/3 | + Neck |
The well-backed ante-post favourite, English King, was previously scintillating in the Derby Trial at Lingfield. He then unsurprisingly ran the fastest last half mile in this race, only to finish fifth under Frankie Dettori who’d kept him out the back for too long.
Then there is the previous and subsequent form of the winner, Serpentine. A recent maiden scorer, he was only as short as 25/1 because of his trainer. He should have been 50’s in all truth.
Coolmore do not sell top Derby winners with great stud potential, but they sold Serpentine to Australia. He’s won a Group 3 since then, but nothing else of note. He was not a good, let alone great, Derby winner.
He was in fact there for the taking if not by Kemeko who didn’t stay, then certainly by English King and possibly by Mogul or Russian Emperor. It was a group failure by the jockeys, and it was not questioned enough by authorities.
What Serpentine did that day was the equivalent of a 400-metre runner taking off as normal while the others jog for the first 200m. It’s a plain old head start, and the others will not recover from that. It’s not fair competition. It certainly shouldn’t happen in a Derby and there should have been a Stewards Enquiry.
There has been a feeling among punters that only the smaller competitors take big punishments in this sport. Comparing the mass failure of the 2020 Derby to the relatively small failure of a 2024 apprentice race certainly backs that up to a degree.