Jockey Kathy O’Hara’s three-month ban for using mobile phone
Kathy O’Hara broke the rules a staggering 65 times by using her mobile phone, and the loved-up calls to her high-flying racing identity boyfriend have come at a heavy price.
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Jockey Kathy O’Hara knew it was wrong to use her mobile phone in the jockeys’ room.
She just never thought it would cost her a chance at a Melbourne Cup.
The glamorous jockey was left in a state of shock when Racing NSW stewards rubbed her out for the entire spring carnival, including her Caulfield Cup and Melbourne Cup rides on Grey Lion.
Stewards suspended O’Hara for three months on Tuesday after she pleaded guilty to two charges related to the use of her phone in the jockeys’ room on race days.
Despite being strictly forbidden, stewards found that O’Hara had used her phone 65 times in the jockeys’ room over the past 12 months — with almost half of those calls to her high-flying racing identity boyfriend.
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O’Hara’s partner, Charlie Duckworth, is the racing manager for the all-powerful Chris Waller stable. He was found to have contacted O’Hara on the phone 30 times in 12 months on race day.
The investigation came after officials confiscated her phone and forensically analysed it following a race meeting at Kembla Grange on August 8.
Racing NSW steward Troy Vassallo was in charge of the hearing and asked O’Hara why she used the phone in the jockeys’ room when she knew it was against the rules.
“I can’t give an explanation,” O’Hara said. “There’s nothing sinister in it. I know it’s something I shouldn’t do. It’s appalling how much I use it.”
Duckworth, a licensed participant, was fined $2000 for his part in O’Hara breaching the rules of racing.
“It’s probably foolish but there were no integrity breaches,” Duckworth said. “I go to work at 3am and don’t get home until 6pm, so it’s not uncommon to check to see if your loved ones are OK.”
O’Hara and Duckworth will both appeal their punishments.
Racing has strict rules around protecting the integrity of the sport, with regards to betting and the dissemination of information.
While stewards said there were no issues regarding that in O’Hara’s case, they still handed down the heavy punishment because she had been charged with the same offence four times since 2005. The last penalty was a two-week suspension and $4000 fine in 2016.
Vassallo said O’Hara wasn’t setting a good example to the other hoops in the women’s jockey room. “It’s disappointing … (especially) when you’re the senior female in the jockeys’ room,” he said.
O’Hara, who is down to ride at Wednesday’s race meeting at Canterbury, knew she was in for a suspension but asked stewards to consider what was at stake if she were to spend a significant amount of time off racetracks.
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She even suggested that she would cop a six-month suspension if she was ever charged with the offence again.
“Grey Lion is probably my last chance to get a ride in the Melbourne Cup,” she said.
Stewards dashed those dreams, however, and suspended her from September 20 to December 20.
Not only did her previous poor record cost her but, according to Vassallo, “the negative impact of riders using their phones in the jockeys’ room”.
Soon after walking out of the hearing, O’Hara said she would appeal against the decision.