Covid-19 breach may cost Aussie golden girl Jamie Kah $1 million

One of Australia’s best known jockey’s has had the book thrown at her after a “misleading” statement about her Covid-19 breach.

The world’s leading female jockey Jamie Kah has been banned for a further two months after being found guilty of misleading a Victorian Racing Tribunal in a move that could cost her $1 million.

Kah was one of five jockeys handed a three-month ban after a Covid-19 breach in the south of Melbourne at the end of August.

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Kah, Ben Melham, Ethan Brown, Mark Zahra and Celine Gaudray were fined more than $5000 by Victoria Police before they were each handed three-month bans from Racing Victoria.

According to The Herald Sun, the jockeys attended a luxury Airbnb holiday house with two other people after the 9pm greater Melbourne curfew, defying the State Government stay at home directions.

The party reportedly started after a text message from Kah to Gaudray but quickly became a larger gathering which broke Covid-19 rules and curfew.

Kah is one of Australian racing’s brightest stars. Photo: Leonie Grbic/Racing Photos via Getty Images

The riders’ bans commenced on August 26 and will expire on November 25, meaning the jockeys will miss the spring carnival.

However, Kah’s suspension was extended to five months on Friday after she was found guilty of providing false and misleading evidence to stewards about the Airbnb party — a charge she had pleaded not guilty to.

Kah had told stewards Gaudray, Brown and Melham were in attendance, but didn’t tell them Zahra was there. The Herald Sun reports Kah said she didn’t think to mention Zahra because she wasn’t sure how long he was at the gathering.

“Well, look, you never actually asked me if Mark was there and I – from your question, when you said, ‘Who ended up being there?’ I just thought you meant who ended up there, meaning, you know, there was the cops that came, it was late into the night and they were the people that were there,” Kah said.

“I think he (Zahra) came and had a few beers and there was a barbecue and I saw him briefly. But like I said, I didn’t see him leave or get there but he wasn’t there for long.”

Kah is one of the most high-profile jockeys in Australia and recently won the Scobie Breasley Medal as Victoria’s best jockey. This year she achieved the historic feat of winning 100 races in a season in metropolitan Victoria.

Already expected to miss out on hundreds of thousands of dollars, reports suggest Kah’s lengthy suspension could now cost her approximately $1 million in earnings. Missing the lucrative spring carnival will be the biggest hit to her hip pocket.

The 25-year-old won’t be able to race again until January.

Jamie Kah will be out of action for a while. (Reg Ryan/Racing Photos via Getty Images)

The published decision from the stewards said Kah’s explanation for not mentioning Zahra was “far from convincing”.

Judge John Bowman said: “When telling stewards who was present you wilfully omitted the name of Mr Zahra. You did not give his name until directly confronted by stewards (August 30).

“Your evidence was that, while you knew he had been at the premises, you thought the stewards were inquiring about who had been present at a later time. We made it clear this is an excuse which we simply do not accept.”