Blood, wine stains after jockeys’ wild Airbnb party

Blood and red wine stains and a fridge full of booze were found at the “totally trashed” Mornington Airbnb where star jockey Jamie Kah partied in breach of lockdown laws.

A cleaner removes bags of rubbish after the wild party at the Mornington Airbnb.

A cleaner working at the Airbnb booked by Jamie Kah and a group of lockdown rule-breaking jockeys has said she walked into an “absolute mess”, finding what she believed to be blood stains on the couch and red wine marks splattered on the floors.

“There was blood everywhere, on the couch,” she said.

“We had to get steam cleaners in. I took one look at that and thought, ‘I can’t clean it’.”

She said several other cleaners had to be brought to the three-level Mornington holiday home to clean up the group’s mess, which will take hours to get through.

“The place was totally trashed,” she said.

“The red wine looked like it had been walked through the house.”

Star jockeys Kah and Ben Melham, along with Ethan Brown and talented apprentice Celine Gaudray, attended the Airbnb past the 9pm greater Melbourne curfew.

Jamie Kah. Picture: Jason Edwards

Ben Melham. Picture: AAP

The jockeys were at the short-stay rental with two other non-licensed people.

The illegal gathering was in breach of both racing regulations and state government orders.

Steam cleaners and a mobile pool cleaning service arrived at the short-stay home on Friday afternoon.

A pair of cleaners from the property management group that oversees the home collected large plastic bags brimming with rubbish before storing them at the front of the property.

The cleaner said she thought it strange that she was called to clean the Tallis Drive property because no one should have had a booking there.

She found bottles of alcohol that the jockeys left behind in the kitchen fridge.

“We think they got in by pretending to be essential workers or something,” she said.

“It was strange that there was a booking at this property.”

“We’ll be here till midnight,” she said.

“We’ve still got so much to clean.”

The Airbnb property in Tallis Drive Mornington. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

A woman who lives near the Airbnb, who did not wish to be named, said police banged on the property’s front door about 12.30am.

“It was a bit ridiculous,” she said.

“It got really noisy. You could literally hear everything.

“It seemed like they were even trying to hide from the police.”

She said any of the neighbours could have been the ones to report the jockeys to police because they were making so much noise late at night.

The woman said she knew the owners of the Airbnb, who by the following morning had issued apology letters to neighbours after becoming aware of the gathering.

In the letter, property managers said they were under the impression the booking was permitted because it appeared to have been made by essential workers.

“They’re extremely apologetic and angry about what happened,” the neighbour said.

“They said they were really sorry and they didn’t know about it.”

In a statement released on Friday, a remorseful Kah said: “I want to apologise for my recent behaviour in breaching the government and racing Covid rules.

“I am deeply embarrassed and disappointed with myself,” she wrote on Twitter.

“There is no excuse for what I have done and I have let myself down, my family and friends, the racing industry and all Victorians who are doing the right thing in this lockdown.

“I deserve the penalty handed down by the stewards and will take the time to reflect on my actions and its impact on so many people.”

TOP JOCKEYS COP BANS FOR AIRBNB BREACH

Star jockeys Jamie Kah and Ben Melham will miss the spring carnival after being hit with three-month bans for the illegal gathering in Mornington.

The multiple Group 1 winners, along with young guns Ethan Brown and Celine Gaudray, copped the sanction on Friday following a closed stewards inquiry.

It comes as the quartet was fined more than $5000 by Victoria Police for the breach of Chief Medical Officer directions.

All four jockeys pleading guilty to respective charges in relation to the Covid breach.
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