Leading jockey Eric Saint-Martin will serve a nine-meeting ban after the Jockey Club board of stewards last night almost halved the rider's original suspension over his handling of Double Hap piness at Sha Tin last month. Saint-Martin, who had been suspended for 16 meetings for failing to take 'all reasonable and permissible measures' on Double Happiness, had his appeal against the guilty verdict thrown out after a gruelling four-hour hearing at Jockey Club headquarters. But his efforts were partially successful as he came away with the reduced penalty and a clear statement from the Jockey Club that 'there is certainly no suggestion that he deliberately stopped the horse from winning'. The Frenchman will ride at Sha Tin tomorrow before beginning his suspension, which will rule him out for five weeks until his return for the Sha Tin meeting on November 16. Andy Leung Ting-wah, who trains Double Happiness and had been fined $250,000 for being party to Saint-Martin's offence, also lost his appeal but saw the penalty reduced to $100,000. Both the trainer and jockey were ordered to forfeit their deposits by the appeal panel, which comprised Jockey Club chairman Ronald Arculli, former chairman Alan Li Fook-sum and David Eldon. Saint-Martin and Leung were unavailable for comment last night. Despite yesterday's ruling, Saint-Martin still faces the possibility of losing his licence when his contract expires on December 15. He has been in brilliant form this season and leads the jockeys' championship by five wins over title-holder Douglas Whyte, but he remains under notice from the Licensing Committee that in view of his 'disciplinary record, overall attitude and demeanour, should he apply for an extension of his licence, he will be required to show cause why such an extension ought to be granted'. Four new jockeys were announced last week for the December-March period, but there has been no indication of whether Saint-Martin will apply for a renewal, nor how such an application would be viewed by the Licensing Committee in light of the Double Happiness case. Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, the Jockey Club's director of racing, said after the appeal hearing that there was no imminent deadline by which Saint-Martin would need to apply. 'There is no application from Eric Saint-Martin for any extension, so until that happens there can be no consideration given to it,' he said. Marco Cheng, the Jockey Club's racing secretary, issued a brief press release confirming the appeal panel's verdicts, and Engelbrecht-Bresges added: 'There is no requirement for the appeals committee to publicly give reasons for the decisions it makes. However, it was clear during the hearing that there was some concern that Eric Saint-Martin had set Double Happiness too great a task before the home straight was reached and that the panel agreed with the viewpoint of the racing stewards. 'There is no criticism of his riding in the straight and there is certainly no suggestion that he deliberately stopped the horse from winning. I think it is very important that we make that point clear as this rule is sometimes misunderstood.' Leung, who leads the trainers' championship on 10 winners, and Saint-Martin were handed their original crushing penalties over the running and handling of Double Happiness when the four-year-old finished fifth in the second division of the Elm Handicap at Sha Tin last month. The jockey was found guilty of failing to take 'all reasonable and permissible measures throughout that race to ensure Double Happiness was given a full opportunity to win or to obtain the best possible placing in the field'. Drawn one in the 1,400-metre race, the gelding was sent off 3-1 second favourite but was taken back and wide by Saint-Martin before making his run down the outside in the straight. Leung, who confirmed the jockey had followed his riding instructions, was found guilty of being a party to the offence. Saint-Martin's clearance to ride at Sha Tin tomorrow is something of a surprise as the appeal board had the power to order him to start his penalty immediately. Indications earlier in the week had been that this power would be invoked unless the appeal was upheld and that Saint-Martin would be replaced on any engagements for tomorrow. But he will have rides in all nine races on the card, including four for Leung.
