Apprentice jockey Minonette Kennedy wins racing ban appeal after Fannie Bay incident

In upholding the appeal, the committee concluded the NT stewards ‘had no authority’ to suspend the apprentice jockey from riding in three upcoming races. Read why.

Minonette Kennedy was initially banned for three races following the incident at Darwin’s Fannie Bay racecourse. Picture: Che Chorley

The Thoroughbred Racing NT Appeals Committee has flagged concerns about inconsistency in interstate “careless riding” provisions after disallowing an apprentice jockey’s three-race suspension.

The committee heard Territory racing stewards banned Minonette Kennedy from three races in Queensland following an inquiry in February into an incident at the Fannie Bay racecourse.
“When you rode Gotta Beat in race two, that you failed to make sufficient effort to prevent your mount from shifting inwards near the 700 metres resulting in apprentice (Emma) Lines’ mount Whitten being crowded inwards onto Wayne Davis’ mount Gelata, which was tightened for room and severely checked by its rider,” the stewards alleged.

In appealing the ban, Ms Lines argued the stewards had “erred in determining the degree of interference was in the high range” and it was “common ground that the degree of carelessness was ‘in the low range because you only shift marginally’”.

In turn TRNT chairman of stewards David Hensler argued Ms Kennedy “made an effort to stay in the three deep lane as she took the turn but that effort was insufficient and taken too late”.

“Her failure to meet her responsibilities in that regard constitutes careless riding,” he submitted.

“That is the tightest turn on the Fannie Bay racetrack and perhaps (Ms Kennedy) was not as familiar with it as local jockeys.

“The stewards also concede that (Ms Kennedy) only shifted marginally and quickly resumed her position.”

TRNT chairman of stewards David Hensler.

In upholding the appeal, the committee concluded the NT stewards “had no authority to suspend an interstate apprentice jockey from riding at Queensland race meetings”.

“The appeals committee also concluded that there is no reasonable equivalence between a suspension from riding in one NT race and a suspension from riding in three Queensland races and would have upheld the appeal on this basis,” the decision reads.

The committee held that a benefit of its jurisdictional finding was that it gave effect to “the unique guidelines that inform Queensland stewards in their consideration of penalties for careless riding”.

“For NT stewards to impose (or purport to impose) a penalty for careless riding in Queensland without reference to the Queensland careless riding template would bring the thoroughbred racing industry into disrepute, both in Queensland and the NT,” the decision reads.

“Given that so many interstate jockeys ride in the NT, it is of concern to the appeals committee that there is a lack of consistency between the various principal racing authorities about how penalties for careless riding are calculated.

“The appeals committee notes that in the ultimate paragraph of the guidelines reference is made to ‘high level careless riding’ without an explanation of what that phrase means.”