Star jockey Jamie Kah banned, out of Caulfield Cup after guilty verdict

Punters lost about $214,000 on a horse that Jamie Kah failed to give every chance to win or run a place in a group 3 race at Caulfield last month, the Victorian Racing Tribunal heard on Thursday.

Kah was suspended for three weeks after being found guilty by the tribunal of not taking a gap on her mount, Let’sfacethemusic, to improve her position in the McNeil Stakes on Saturday, August 31.

Jockey Jamie Kah appearing at the Victorian Racing Tribunal.Credit: Jason South

The penalty will start on AFL grand final night, September 28, meaning Kah will miss the Turnbull Stakes, the Caulfield Guineas and the Caulfield Cup. But the superstar rider will be allowed back more than two weeks before the Melbourne Cup as she attempts to become the second woman, after Michelle Payne, to win the race.

Kah was found guilty by the tribunal on Thursday of not riding her horse with sufficient vigour or purpose to give it every chance to win or obtain a place in a race.

Jockey Jamie Kah appearing at the Victorian Racing Tribunal.Credit: Jason South

Let’sfacethemusic finished fifth of eight runners, beaten by 4.56 lengths. The horse was 0.06 lengths off fourth place.

Corrie Waller, who was acting on behalf of stewards, said punters outlaid $80,000 on Let’sfacethemusic ($8.50) to run a place, more than $75,000 on Let’sfacethemusic to finish in the trifecta and more than $59,000 for Kah’s horse to finish in the first four.

“This was placed on a horse that was not given every opportunity when it was entirely reasonable and permissible during the vital stages of the race due to a culpable ride,” Waller told the tribunal.

“As a result, her actions have significantly impacted the image and integrity of racing.”

The tribunal found that Kah should have taken a gap between two horses – Stay Focused and Band Of Brothers – in the home straight when riding Let’sfacethemusic.

“We are satisfied that this ride did not involve a mere error of judgement on your part,” tribunal deputy chair Judge Kathryn Kings said.

“When viewed objectively, by failing to take the run which presented itself and was available to be taken for approximately eight strides (56m), it represented a breach of rule 129 (2), and it was a departure from the standards of racing to be expected of a rider of your standing.”

The tribunal acknowledged that Let’sfacethemusic, a three-year-old colt trained by Mick Price and Mick Kent jnr, raced keenly during the early stages of the race, but that was not the case in the home straight.

Kah, a 14-time group 1 winner who pleaded not guilty to the charge, said she felt like she had given the horse every chance to finish the race off.

But Waller said trainer Mick Price summed it up best when he asked “where’s the endeavour to get into the space, and then when the space opens up, where’s the endeavour allowing the horse to finish the race off properly?”

Barrister Matthew Stirling, who appeared on behalf of the jockey, said a number of mitigating factors contributed to Kah’s ride, including wind gusts that were so strong they shook TV cameras.

He said Kah did not have full confidence take a gap on Let’sfacethemusic because it was a difficult horse to manage and the horses in front of her were shifting around. Kah told the tribunal the colt had a tendency to lock its jaw, which meant it would move in the opposite direction to which it was steered.

Stirling said Kah told stewards after the race that she did not have the confidence to take the run and it was “literally dangerous”.

“If she doesn’t feel safe to take that run, by the rules of racing, she should not be taking that run,” Stirling said.

Kah explained that she had ridden “like absolute shit all day” because she was feeling sick and blocked up, and the wind had affected her judgement. She said she could not hear other horses in the race.

Stirling said the very thing that landed Kah in ICU in March last year was falling at Flemington after losing control of a horse that locked its jaw.

She spent six days in a coma, a month in hospital and did not ride for six months. The sport feared she might never come back.

The tribunal panel consisted of deputy chair Judge Kathryn Kings, Dr June Smith and Des Gleeson.

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