Black oval appeal to be heard tomorrow

Jockey Dean Mernagh and trainer Stewart Parr will finally have their appeals heard tomorrow against the punishments they received in the Black Oval case over a year ago.

Their appeals were put on hold while investigations into betting patterns in the race at Wolverhampton on January 22, 2007 were completed.

Only last month the British Horseracing Authority concluded that other than the offences Parr and Mernagh were found guilty of on the day, no further breaches of the rules of Racing had taken place.

The affair began after Black Oval finished just over two lengths behind Kahlua Bear when third in the seven-furlong Pontins Family Holidays Handicap.

Mernagh was found in breach of Rule 157 (c) – the ’non-trier’s rule – which states a horse has “intentionally been restrained and not let down”. Mernagh was suspended for 28 days.

Parr was found in breach of Rule 155 (ii), which governs the instructions given to a rider, and fined £5,000. The horse was banned for 40 days.

The BHA’s disciplinary panel will hear the appeal at 10am tomorrow.