Three jockeys felt the brunt of the stewards' wrath at Sha Tin yesterday as careless riding charges punctuated an otherwise quiet meeting. Jamie Spencer, Andreas Suborics and Simon Yim Hin-keung will all ride at Happy Valley on Wednesday before commencing their time on the sidelines following incidents in races three, six and 10 respectively.
In a milestone he could probably do without, Spencer copped his first Hong Kong suspension, pleading guilty and receiving three days for his ride on Talk Of The Town after shifting out after the 300 metres. Spencer's mount carried Truly The Best out on the track with the eventual sufferer being The Only Hero.
Suborics had endured a nightmare run with suspensions at the beginning of 2002, but had kept a clean slate during his current stint until the sixth race yesterday. Riding Mr Basketball, Suborics was found to have shifted in passing the winning post the first time and checked Ever Glory. He also received a three-day ban and, with Spencer, will be out of action until January 26.
Yim pleaded guilty to letting Perpetual Pleasure come across Favourite Express near the 200 metres in the last race.
Felicity, which was following Favourite Express, had to be checked as a result. Yim's ban was four days as it was his second careless riding suspension during the current season and that means he will not return to race riding until February 4 and will miss the Chinese New Year meeting one day beforehand.
With that in mind, Yim asked stewards to begin his term of penalty immediately so that he would miss the meeting this Wednesday but be back for the important February 3 fixture. His request was denied.
