Celebrated French rider Gerald Mosse has been stunned with a 15-day suspension over his handling of Redkirk Warrior at Sha Tin on January 4.
Mosse, 48, was charged under rule 99 (2), dealing with his responsibility to take all reasonable and permissible measures in a race to win or to achieve the best possible placing.
An inquiry was opened by the stewards at the Sha Tin meeting on January 4, after Redkirk Warrior came from last at the home turn to finish fifth to Kynam at his Hong Kong debut.
Mosse had pleaded not guilty to the charge and then requested a further adjournment of the inquiry so as to gather more evidence for his defence.
That evidence, believed to have been associated with Redkirk Warrior’s sectional times in the second half of the race, was presented in a brief hearing on Wednesday morning but it was insufficient to alter the course of the charge and Mosse was banned for 15 days.
Mosse was suspended last Saturday for three days after failing to ride Sledge Hammer to the line to the satisfaction of stewards, a penalty which starts after the January 25 meeting and keeps him out until February 5, and this new ban is to start immediately at the conclusion of that penalty.
The total 18-day stretch will keep Mosse out of race riding until April 2, missing major events like the Dubai World Cup meeting, Hong Kong Gold Cup and BMW Hong Kong Derby.
This ban is historically towards the higher end of the penalty scale, as Mosse had a prior offence under the rule, although Hong Kong jockey Howard Cheng Yue-tin served an 18-day ban for the same offence earlier this season.
Mosse has 24 hours to lodge notice of his intention to appeal the ban.
