Trainers and riders who had their licences suspended by the Jockey Club on Tuesday evening face what amounts to a domestic disqualification - at least for the time being. Trainers Stephen Leung and Tony P. H. Chan are not allowed to set foot on Jockey Club premises bar their own flats, which the Club lets to them. According to official sources, they are specifically barred from going to their own stables, watching trackwork or going racing. The jockeys, dual champion apprentice Simon Yim and Vickie Choi, are similarly not allowed to ride trackwork or go racing. And the apprentices Peter Ho, Raymond Tam and Andy Ko have been forced to vacate their Jockey Club quarters and return home to their parents.
Director of racing Philip Johnston confirmed yesterday: 'The only difference between this and a disqualification is that they can go to racecourses elsewhere in the world. 'But in Hong Kong they are not allowed in the stable areas, at trackwork or to go racing and the apprentices have been sent home.' The trainers, jockeys and apprentices have had their licences suspended up to and including April 2 or until such further time as the stewards of the Jockey Club may determine.
