Hughes accuses stewards of 'abuse of power' as Currie given ten-day ban

Former champion jockey Richard Hughes accused Lingfield stewards of an abuse of power after they handed out a ten-day ban to rising apprentice Nicola Currie on Tuesday.

Hughes said he was "disgusted" by the treatment of the 7lb claimer, who was found guilty of not taking all reasonable and permissible measures to obtain the best possible placing on Tojosimbre, who finished a running-on fourth in the 2m handicap.

The ban, which will run between October 10-19, comes three days after Currie learned her Cambridgeshire mount Kryptos, on whom she was won three times this year, would miss Saturday's big race due to injury.

Tojosimbre was tackling two miles for the first time but was left with plenty to do before finishing five and a quarter lengths behind easy winner Alternate Route.

Currie told stewards she had asked for an effort two furlongs out, but admitted with hindsight she'd let the field get too far away from her.

Hughes, who was not at Lingfield, said: "Nicola has been in the game for five years, couldn't get a ride and now is finally getting going and makes a mistake, just left him too much to do. It was probably my fault because I told her to ride him cold to the five-pole.

"It's an abuse of power and it's wrong. She's claiming 7lb, jockeys in that position make mistakes, that's how they learn. If she didn't take all reasonable measures he wouldn't have run on. There was no way she'd have beaten the winner; she should have been second. She'll be appealing.

"I'm disgusted. She's a young girl getting on in the game who made a mistake. The implication is she stopped the horse."

All in the genes

Whether it is Galileo or the champion stallion's son Frankel, the family can do no wrong on the track and now even the relatives you may never have heard of are getting in on the act.

Finsceal Fior is a regally-bred son of Galileo out of Finsceal Beo, the 1,000 Guineas and Irish 1,000 Guineas winner, who went into training with Jim Bolger but never raced owing to injury and was put to stud.

Only seven of his offspring have run, two of which have won, both trained by Denis Coakley, who provided the second when Connaught Ranger won his third start in division two of the mile maiden.

Coakley does not get the pick of the Galileos but is making the best of his Finsceal Fiors.

"I've had two so far and they both won, and there's another, Yogiyogiyogi, who ran the other day and was third," he said. "Hopefully she'll win next time."

Coakley, moving on to seven wins for the year, added: "We didn't have a good year last year but we have quite a few to come out. That's only my second two-year-old runner and they've both won."

Market forces

The market forecast a win for a newcomer in the three-year-old maiden fillies' race, but not from Part Exchange, the Hugo Palmer-trained debutante owned by Khalid Abdullah.

The betting suggested the Godolphin filly Valley Of Light, a 400,000gns daughter of Dubawi sent off at odds-on, would be the standout, but it was Part Exchange who shone, pulling clear of her field to win by six lengths.

The Saeed Bin Suroor-trained Valley Of Light could manage only third, ten lengths adrift of the impressive winner.

Palmer's assistant George Boughey said: "She'd been working to a mark good enough to win a maiden. Whether it was first time or not we didn't know. The Godolphin horse was the most regally bred but ours picked up well. She was a little babyish turning in but it was a nice performance.

"She was from the first crop of the Juddmonte horses we were sent last year. It was a nice performance."

THE BUZZ

A big dig in the ribs

Chris Gordon, who had sent out three winners from five runners in the past fortnight up to Tuesday, was not in as rude health as his string. "I was in good form until Sunday night when I had a very drunk owner leap off a table on top me, all 15st of him," he explained. "I've a broken rib. I was in very good form until then. It's what drunk owners do! I've been strapped up by the course physio."

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Keep an eye out for Alternate Route, who ran out an easy winner of the 2m handicap and will surely go in again. "I'm sure Sir Mark has a big plan mapped out for him," said jockey Luke Morris.

Lingfield results and analysis

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