Superstar jockey Jamie Kah to miss Caulfield Cup after copping three-week ban over McNeil Stakes ride at Victorian Racing Tribunal

Superstar jockey Jamie Kah will miss the Caulfield Cup meeting after she was found guilty and suspended over her ride in the Group 3 McNeil Stakes last month.

Superstar jockey Jamie Kah has copped a three-week suspension, including Caulfield Cup day, for her handling of Let’sfacethemusic in a Group 3 last month.

The Victorian Racing Tribunal on Thursday found Kah guilty of failure to take all “reasonable and permissible” steps to improve the position of her mount in the race on August 31.

Kah, afforded the opportunity to clear current riding engagements and commitments, will begin the penalty from midnight September 28 to October 19.

The 28-year-old is eligible to ride this week and next, including in the Group 1 Manikato Stakes on her Blue Diamond winner Hayasugi on AFL grand final eve.

Kah would also be free to ride at the Golden Rose meeting in Sydney on September 28.

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Her first Saturday metropolitan card back in the saddle would be Cox Plate day – October 26.

Stewards on Thursday applied for a six-week sanction as Kah contested the charge and her ride on Let’sfacethemusic occurred in a stakes race.

Precedents on penalties, three to four weeks, for similar offences stewards put to the tribunal involved lesser light jockeys, who pleaded guilty and raced on the provincial circuit.

Kah’s barrister Matthew Stirling urged the tribunal to impose a two to three-week penalty based on mitigating factors, including the windy conditions on race day and her exceptional record.

Judge Kathryn Kings said the tribunal’s decision took into account penalties in like matters, Stirling’s submissions and Kah’s record.

“This is not a case where integrity issues were raised,” Judge Kings said.

“In all the circumstances we impose a penalty of three weeks suspension.”

Jamie Kah was suspended for three weeks after being found guilty over her ride in the Group 3 McNeil Stakes. Picture: Brett Holburt/Racing Photos via Getty Images

The tribunal was satisfied Kah had a reasonable gap and opportunity, from the 175m and then 50m mark, to ride her mount with “sufficient vigour or purpose to improve the position”.

“We are satisfied this ride did not simply involve a mere error of judgement of your part,” Kings said.

“Your failure to take the run that presented itself, was available to be taken for approximately eight strides, represented a breach of rule 129 (2) and was a departure from the standard of racing to be expected of a rider of your standing.”

The tribunal was satisfied Kah’s handling inside the last 50m also denied Let’sfacethemusic “every opportunity to obtain a possible place in the field”.

There was no integrity issues in relation to the ride, only that Kah erred on taking a run between horses, Band Of Brothers and Stay Focused, over the concluding stages of the race.

Let’sfacethemusic, an $8.50 chance, finished fifth in the McNeil Stakes, 4½ lengths from the winner.

Growing Empire goes forward and wins with ease! 👊 pic.twitter.com/SBN2m53pmE

— 7HorseRacing 🐎 (@7horseracing) August 31, 2024

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During submissions, steward Corie Waller, acting for RV, said there was “ample room” for Kah to take the run for eight strides or approximately 56m.

“The gap never completely closes between those two horses,” Waller said.

Kah erred on the side of safety, based on her knowledge of Let’sfacethemusic and Stay Focused, a colt she rode in a jump out late last year.

“With the footage paused and in slow mo there is a gap there that stays open for a few strides but out there I didn’t feel like the gap was safe enough to take,” Kah said.

Stirling said Kah could not be criticised for the safety-first approach in those circumstances.

“The very thing which landed her in ICU last year is a horse she lost control of, because it had a locked jaw,” Stirling said.

“She knows the dangers… you’re talking about young inexperienced horses, it’s not Mr Brightside, it’s not Anamoe… she might’ve hesitated, she might even have made an error of judgement.

“She had that lack of confidence to take the run with this particular horse in these windy conditions… it’s not culpable, it was safe and it was cautious.”

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Stirling would later add had any of the three runners shifted even “a quarter of a horse, or half a horse, the jockey’s finished - they are in the ambulance”.

Kah was sidelined for six months last year after a nasty fall at Flemington when a three-year-old colt she was riding locked its jaw, clipped heels and crashed into the turf.

She sustained head injuries and spent six days in an induced coma and a further month in hospital before a lengthy rehabilitation.

Originally published as Superstar jockey Jamie Kah to miss Caulfield Cup after copping three-week ban over McNeil Stakes ride at Victorian Racing Tribunal