Golden girl Jamie Kah missed Melbourne Cup after fall from grace

There was one glaring omission when the Melbourne Cup jumped on Tuesday, with star Aussie jockey Jamie Kah nowhere to be seen.

Jamie Kah is missing the Carnival. Photo: Instagram, @jamieleekah07, Pat Scala via Getty Images.

When the runners jumped at 3pm (AEDT) at Flemington on Tuesday, jockey Jamie Kah was the glaring missing piece of the Melbourne Cup puzzle.

The 25-year-old has been absent from the entire Spring Carnival as she continues her legal challenge of a five-month ban from racing.

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The world’s leading female jockey received a three-month ban for attending a gathering at a Mornington Airbnb in August, where she was one of five jockeys suspended for their Covid-19 breach.

Kah was issued a further eight-week ban for providing misleading evidence to Racing Victoria stewards during an investigation into the Covid restrictions breach.

As it stands, Kah’s initial ban extends to November 25 — meaning she will miss the entire Spring Carnival in Melbourne. Her additional eight-week suspension for the evidence she provided means she won’t be free to race again until 2022.

Kah has long argued she answered questions during the Racing Victoria stewards inquiry honestly, saying she failed to name one of the jockeys who attended the get-together as the result of the individual not being present when police arrived at the Airbnb.

Reports earlier this year suggested Kah’s lengthy suspension could cost her approximately $1 million in earnings and last week the exiled pilot had her Supreme Court of Victoria hearing into the matter adjourned.

If she is successful in her Supreme Court appeal, Kah could be back in the saddle by the end of November. But if she’s denied, then her wait will drag on until late January.

Jamie Kah. Photo: Reg Ryan/Racing Photos via Getty Images.

It was just 12 months ago Kah was the hottest thing in Australian racing after riding 100 winners in a year for the fifth time in her career.

She’s one of the most high-profile jockeys in Australia and in September won the Scobie Breasley Medal as Victoria’s best jockey. This year she made history by doing what no other jockey has ever managed — winning 100 races in a season in metropolitan Victoria.

The daughter of former speed skaters John and Karen Kah, who represented Australia at the Winter Olympics, Jamie hails from South Australia where she grew up around horses before starting her career as a hoop.

She became the first apprentice to win the SA jockey premiership in 20 years and after winning that award three more times headed to Melbourne where more success followed.

She was in the form of her life a year ago after a Spring Carnival season where seven-time Melbourne Cup winning owner Lloyd Williams summed up her form by declaring: “You couldn’t find anyone riding any better in the world.”

Jamie Kah is missing the Carnival. Photo: Instagram, @jamieleekah07, Pat Scala via Getty Images.

Her 2020 form saw her handed the ride on highly fancied Melbourne Cup contender Prince of Arran, where she eventually finished third in the race that stops the nation.

Despite her close finish behind race winner Twilight Payment, Kah came under fire from racing commentators for failing to give Prince of Arran its best chance of winning the race.

She’s banned from riding but Kah was spotted at Flemington on Saturday where she strapped a horse trained by her fiance Clayton Douglas before the last race of Derby Day. All the while she’s still waiting to learn the outcome of her Supreme Court matter in an effort to clear her name after the Airbnb scandal.

Kah’s omission meant Rachel King, who has the ride on Pondus for Williams, was the only female jockey in the field for this year’s Melbourne Cup.

Rachel King is primed for a tilt at the Melbourne Cup. Photo: David Swift

Kah watched from the sideline because of the fallout from her Airbnb Covid-19 breach.

The gathering reportedly started after a text message from Kah to fellow jockey Celine Gaudray before it quickly became a larger party which broke Covid-19 rules and curfew in Victoria.

Kah had told stewards Gaudray and fellow jockeys Ben Melham and Ethan Brown were in attendance, but didn’t tell them Mark Zahra had been there.

Details of Kah’s interviews with stewards were revealed in a seven-page Victorian Racing Tribunal decision, which stated her “explanation is far from convincing”.

Originally published as Golden girl Jamie Kah missed Melbourne Cup after fall from grace