Murtagh suspension reduced

JOHNNY MURTAGH was partially successful in his bid to have a seven-day ban overturned when the suspension was reduced to four days on appeal at the Curragh yesterday.

But he will still be unavailable to ride at Longchamp, which features the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, or Tipperary on Sunday.

His ban covers today , tomorrow, Sunday and Monday.

Murtagh and trainer Eddie Lynam appealed against the penalties imposed on them at the Curragh on September 21 over the running and riding of Dangle, who finished fifth in the six-furlong two-year-old maiden.

Murtagh was hit with a seven-day ban for allegedly not giving his horse every opportunity to win or obtain its best possible placing, while Lynam was fined €750 for allegedly using the racecourse as a training ground. Dangle was banned from racing for 42 days. However, Lynam was successful with his appeal and his fine was remitted and the horse’s suspension was lifted.

The Turf Club’s appeals and referrals committee upheld Lynam’s appeal “on the basis that he changed his evidence from the original Curragh inquiry and said he was not satisfied with the ride”.

The committee said they took Murtagh’s good record into account when reducing his ban. He only had one caution on his record before today under that rule.

Meanwhile, a solution to the ongoing dispute over controversial new mobile phone restrictions across-channel appeared no nearer yesterday after the jockeys met in Nottingham to assess the situation.

The disagreement began when the Jockey Club introduced restrictions on mobile phone use by riders on racetracks from September 1, in the wake of a high-profile corruption court case which revealed that privileged information was being passed by phone.

Amended restrictions came into force on September 19 that allowed riders to make calls on their phones and check for messages whenever they wish, without the need to seek permission.

After yesterday’s meeting John Blake, who has taken over from Michael Caulfield as chief executive of the Jockeys Association, said: “I had a long conversation with the senior steward (Julian Richmond-Watson). I put certain ideas to him and he said he may call me back last evening but he didn’t.”