Jockey Rob James receives one-year ban, with final eight months suspended

James apologised last week after a video from 2016 showed him mounting a dead horse

Wed, 10 Mar, 2021 - 22:21

Stephen Barry

Jockey Rob James has been banned from horse racing for a year, with the final eight months suspended, after an IHRB hearing on Wednesday.

James apologised last week after a video from 2016 showed him mounting a dead horse.

As in the case of Gordon Elliott, the referrals committee found James in breach of Rules 272(i), "in that he acted in a manner which was prejudicial to the integrity, proper conduct and good reputation of horseracing".

The suspension sees James' qualified riders licence and handlers permit suspended, while the jockey told the committee he would not attend a race meeting or point-to-point for the duration of his four-month ban.

The detailed decision read out by Ms. Justice Leonie Reynolds will be published by the IHRB on Thursday.

James, a leading amateur rider who recorded his first Cheltenham Festival win in 2020, said last week he was "heartbroken" by the damage done by his "wholly inappropriate and disrespectful" actions.

The video followed a picture of leading trainer Gordon Elliott sitting on top of a dead horse, Morgan, at his gallops. Elliott received a one-year ban from horse racing, with six months suspended, last Friday.