Buckley considers Cordobes appeal

Penelope Buckley is considering whether to appeal against the punishments handed out by the Market Rasen stewards over the running and riding of Hermano Cordobes.

The Lincolnshire trainer was fined £1,000 (€1,461), 5lb-claiming conditional jockey Des Flavin banned for seven days and the horse prevented from running for 40 days.

All were penalised after the five-year-old had finished sixth of 14 on his jumping debut behind Waterloo Son in division two of the AC Office Supplies Maiden Hurdle.

Making only his second appearance on a racecourse, the Un Desperado gelding was one of the 100-1 complete outsiders. Staying on in the straight he was eventually beaten almost 24 lengths by the winner.

Mrs Buckley said: “I haven’t decided whether to appeal yet. I shall have another look at the tape first.

“I think they were harsh on the horse and harsh on the jockey. He followed instructions. I was happy with the ride he gave the horse.

“The horse is a totally unknown quantity. I think I would probably have pulled up on the back straight second time round. He is a bit of a monkey and he ran on to surprise us both.

“This horse can be very buzzy and is very similar to his half-brother El Cordobes. I wanted him to settle a bit better which he did.

“To give him his due the way he paddled over the first hurdle I wouldn’t have wanted to have ridden him any other way. Des gave him a super ride and the horse just ran on at the end by which time he had got far too much to do.

“He had come nowhere on his only other previous start and I thought it was best to err on the side of caution as far as the horse was concerned. The way he was jumping in the first place he wasn’t looking where he was going. Des tried to get him back on his hocks a little bit more and let him see where he was going.

“If he had been favourite I could have understood the problem. It does look bad on the video but there was nothing to be gained. I don’t know what to do.

“Sometimes you think you should bite the bullet, but on the other hand it’s a slur on me.”