Champion jockey Damien Oliver cops a wack from stewards on the way out

It’ll be a photo viewed for years to come, and a moment to go down in Australian sporting history - but the stewards weren’t about to bow to romance.

Oliver stood high in the irons on Munhamek.

Now-retired jockey Damien Oliver was brought into the stewards’ room one final time on Saturday, as they handed him a $500 fine for his pre-post salute on Munhamek.

The jockey, known as ‘the G.O.A.T’, sent Ascot racecourse into raptures when riding his third consecutive winner to storm into his retirement in memorable fashion.

Coming into the last, the $1.5m Damien Oliver Gold Rush (1400m), Oliver had ridden the winners of the past two races and the atmosphere trackside was palpable as Nick Ryan legged him up onto the last of his 20,329 race rides.

OLLIE BOWS OUT A WINNER!

A remarkable ride sees Munhamek take out the Damien Oliver Gold Rush... INCREDIBLE!🙌🐐🏆 pic.twitter.com/EyhazINeRd

— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) December 16, 2023

And on settling back on the fence from the wide draw aboard the 8YO gelding, the fairytale was looking less likely to eventuate.

But Oliver punched through a gap in the straight, before standing high in the irons after getting past the talented 3YO gelding Ripcord.

The stewards weren’t swept away in the romance though, and effected the rule to the letter of the law - issuing Oliver a $500 fine for celebrating prior to the winning post.

Also from the Gold Rush, jockey Brad Rawiller (Resortman) was reprimanded for careless riding near the 250m mark, for shifting outwards and impacting Hot Zed.

Another incident at the 150m mark was the focus of an inquiry, with Clint Johnston-Porter (Ripcord) initially charged for careless riding due to interference with Massimo, but they later withdrew the charge after hearing more evidence. They found there was movement outwards from Comfort Me and Karli’s Karma that was a factor in the incident.

Also, one of Oliver’s earlier winners Devine Belief was found to be lame after her dominant win - the 4YO mare now a winner of five of her nine starts, including her past two.

Originally published as Champion jockey Damien Oliver cops a wack from stewards on the way out