Jamie Kah will ride out of Covid scandal, her Olympian dad says

Former Winter Olympian John Kah has spoken for the first time about his daughter who is at the centre of an Airbnb party scandal.

Exclusive: Star jockey Jamie Kah will “come out the other side” of her Covid-19 rule-breaking party scandal, her father says.

Former Winter Olympian John Kah said that his daughter was “okay” despite her world crumbling when she was caught by police having a noisy party at an Airbnb with four other jockeys.

The Covid-19 rule breach led to a three-month ban, with Kah facing a longer stint on the sidelines if she is slapped with an extra penalty for misleading stewards about the attendance of the fifth jockey.

Kah was set for a mega payday of endorsement deals over the Spring Racing Carnival, similar to the deals inked by Olympic gold medal swimmer Ariarne Titmus following her success in Tokyo.

But talks about Kah’s sponsorships have been thrown into disarray by her ban.

Jamie Kah with her parents John and Karen on the Mornington Peninsula. Picture: Alex Coppel

John Kah, who represented Australia in short track speed skating at the 1992 Winter Olympics, backed his daughter following the Covid-19 breach.

“She’s okay, she will come out the other side of it,” Mr Kah said.

Kah is halfway through a 14-day ban from trackwork, and was understood to be devastated at her mistake.

She said last week she was “deeply embarrassed.”

But now there are questions about whether she will return to the track at all, and instead follow an earlier dream to be an Olympic equestrian rider.

John Macmillan, her first racing trainer in Adelaide, has known Kah since she was 14.

He said Kah still had a point to prove on the racetrack.

“She is serious about equestrian but she is serious about racing too and I don’t think she would want to end on a bad note,” Mr Macmillan said.

Jamie Kah. Picture: Nicole Cleary

The South Australian-raised jockey was one of the greatest stories in racing, becoming the first jockey – man or woman – to win 100 races in a season in July.

She was likely to take out the Scobie Breasley medal – the top gong for Victorian jockeys because of her standout season. The event will be held on Sunday, September 12, but it was unclear if Kah would be able to attend.

Last year the event was held online, but it’s unclear how it would go ahead this season, and whether Kah would be able to accept it if she did win.

The 25-year-old was booted for three months from the sport for an Airbnb party that broke Victoria’s Covid-19 rules, including its strict 9pm curfew.

Kah had been staying at the $500 a night luxury home on and off because she had been having relationship issues with her fiance Clayton Douglas.

Mr Douglas declined to comment.

New details were revealed at a Victorian Racing Tribunal hearing this week.

Melham, who has been previously banned for betting on races, and Brown had been at the Airbnb since 8am on Wednesday, August 25 – a total of 16 hours.

Clayton Douglas and Jamie Kah. Picture: Getty Images

The time when apprentice jockey Celine Gaudray, 20, arrived at the property was unclear.

Originally, the four red-faced jockeys did not disclose that veteran horseman Mark Zahra, 39, also attended the clandestine gathering.

Melham, 33, and Brown, 22, claimed through their lawyers that “wouldn’t necessarily” recall that Zahra was also at the house because they were there for 16 hours.

Cleaners found empty alcohol bottles the next day, and said that there was “blood on the couch”, while neighbours said there was so much noise from the party that anybody in the street could have called the police.

Kah has not yet entered a plea on the charge that she misled stewards by failing to tell them that Zahra was also at the party.

A directions hearing was scheduled for next Thursday, September 9, unless a deal on a ban can be done before then.

Previous charges of misleading stewards have resulted in a month-long ban.

Kah’s original ban was due to expire on November 25, but the extra sting could mean that she was out of racing until Christmas Day.

Gaudray and Zahra plead guilty to giving false evidence and will have another hearing on Friday, September 10.

But Melham and Brown are fighting the false evidence charges, with a hearing scheduled for Thursday.

Jockey Jamie Kah in a promotional photo shoot. Plans for future deals have been under a cloud because of a Covid-19 rule breach. Picture: Alex Coppel

The Covid-19 party has been the talk of racing circles for the past 10 days.

Questions have been raised about whether Victoria Police, either formally or informally, tipped off stewards about the Covid-19 breach.

Racing Victoria did not reveal the source of its tip off.

“We do not intend to comment on how the Stewards became aware of the breaches. The Stewards’ focus has been on the conduct itself,” a spokeswoman said.

But Racing Victoria did clarify that the jockeys were not drug tested.

“Drug testing is only within the Stewards’ jurisdiction when a person is handling or riding a horse,” a spokeswoman said.

“In some cases, the Stewards may require a clear sample be given before a licensed person can ride again as part of an inquiry.”

Racing Victoria said that the industry “has worked incredibly hard over the past 18 months to safely continue racing.

“The events of the past week have served as an important reminder to all within our industry of the importance of adhering to our Covid protocols,” a spokeswoman said.

Victorian Jockeys Association boss Matt Hyland said support had been offered to Kah and the four other jockeys involved in the Covid-19 breach.

Kah had been a reluctant pin up for the sport, and had wanted to focus on racing, rather than interviews.

Mr Hyland said he was hopeful Kah would return to the track, despite her previous declaration that she wanted to be an Olympic equestrian champion.

“This whole thing will be a speed bump if she does come back,” he said.

Victoria Police did not respond to questions before deadline.

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