Five-day ban for jockey who rode a winner in Britain when he was suspended for Irish whip offence

A jockey who thought he could be allowed to ride in Britain while suspended in Ireland has been hit with a five-day suspension. Shane Fenelon received a two-day whip ban at Ballinrobe in August that ruled him out of action on September 9 but nonetheless accepted a booking from Peter and Michael Bowen at Newton Abbot that day, winning the bumper on Alan De Banks.

The BHA's Charlotte Davison told a disciplinary panel during a two-hour hearing on Monday that the case was "extremely straightforward". Fenelon, an Irish-based jockey whose first ride was in May 2019, had taken part in a race while he was not entitled to do so and had therefore broken the rules, while Alan De Banks would have to be disqualified.

But the barrister Samuel Cuthbert appeared on behalf of the horse's connections to argue the result should be allowed to stand. He pointed to a phone call made in advance of the race by one of the Bowens to BHA customer services, to ask whether Fenelon was entitled to ride.

Cuthbert described the trainer saying Fenelon wasn't sure whether or not he was suspended on the day in question. The operator replied: "No, it seems that he is fine," after presumably having checked a list of BHA suspensions and found no mention of Fenelon's name.

"In my submission, that could not be more clear," Cuthbert said. He also pointed out that a letter from the IHRB notifying Fenelon of his suspension did not specify that it would apply in any jurisdictions other than Ireland.

Davison told the jockey during cross-examination: "If your licence is suspended, it means you can't ride anywhere."

"It's different jurisdictions," Fenelon replied. "I was unaware. I asked Mr Bowen and he said he would ask the BHA. It was up to the BHA to give guidance on that."

It emerged that, while at Newton Abbot, Fenelon signed a form beneath a declaration saying: "I confirm I am not subject to any suspension on this day."

He said that he had not read the form, which had been presented to him while he was in the process of weighing out. "I was on the scale. I was asked for a signature and I signed.

"It's a bad time to be doing anything like that. You're under pressure to get the saddle out. If they had explained it to me, it would have been different."

But the panel chair James O'Mahony declared: "Ignorance of the rules is not an excuse. A jockey has a personal responsibility to make sure he is eligible.

"He had every opportunity of seeking accurate information as to what the position was. We find it hard to conclude that he didn't, somewhere in his outlook, suspect or know that if he was banned in one jurisdiction, he would very likely be banned in another."

O'Mahony said the BHA customer services operator had not been given all the facts. "The question was not, this jockey has been banned in Ireland, what's our position? It was simply referring to a jockey being unsure as to whether he was banned.

"It was an oral statement of what an employee at the BHA thought was the answer to a very brief telephone inquiry. She had no access to the details of the Irish ban and there's no clear evidence that she had authority to make a concession [allowing Fenelon to ride]. It was not in writing or followed up or substantiated, even by email."

He ordered that Alan De Banks be disqualified, handing the race to the Nigel Twiston-Davies trained The Expensive One.

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