- Racing jockey Callum Shepherd rode at a meeting at Kempton last month
- He was accused of stopping his horse too soon so that he didn’t win the race
- He was handed an 18-day ban, but has now successfully appealed the decision
Callum Shepherd’s dramatic year has received an unexpected boost after his appeal against an 18-day riding ban proved successful.
It has been a year of wildly contrasting fortunes for Shepherd, who experienced the agony of being jocked off the ride on Ambiente Friendly ahead of the Epsom Derby but bounced back to partner Isle Of Jurra to a brilliant success in the Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot.
The 27-year-old was thrust back into the headlines on August 21 when, in a run-of-the-mill night meeting at Kempton, he was hit with a hefty suspension after stewards at the track felt he had not ridden his mount Thorntonledale Max out to gain the best possible position.
Trained in Newmarket by David Simcock, Thorntonledale Max was joined on the line by Flavour Maker, who forced a dead-heat but the Kempton stewards were insistent that Shepherd had stopped riding two strides too soon before the winning post and was responsible for not winning the contest.
They said he ‘failed to take all reasonable and permissible measures on a horse that should have finished first.’
Callum Shepherd has successfully overturned the 18-day riding ban he was hit with last month
Shepherd was incensed by the decision – he said he had been ‘insulted’ to have been called before the stewards – and lodged an appeal, which was heard via Zoom on Tuesday. It took almost three hours and featured fiery exchanges between Rory Mac Neice, who represented Shepherd, and Louis Weston, who represented the British Horseracing Authority.
The basis of Shepherd’s argument was that he had lost his balance in the final few strides and that he did nothing to check Thortondale Max’s momentum. His style in a finish was forensically dissected in frame-by-frame footage.
‘I look in a mess,’ Shepherd argued. ‘My knee is out, it is embarrassing to watch this back. But I still had a commitment to win. My riding style just fell apart in the final strides. I became unbalanced and out of rhythm with my horse. That’s why I was out of the saddle. I didn’t stop riding.’
The independent panel agreed with his view and said there was an ‘acceptable reason for why there was an appearance of him not riding out and the case had been decided on facts.’ Shepherd, who rides at Newcastle later on Tuesday, had the sanction quashed with immediate effect.
