Irish Derby heartbreak for Rob Hornby as Colin Keane gets nod plus likely appeal after controversial Royal Ascot finish
GUTTED Rob Hornby has been ‘jocked-off’ Westover in the Irish Derby.
Irishman Colin Keane has been lined up to replace Hornby on the luckless Derby third after the colt’s owners Juddmonte made the cut throat decision over the weekend.
Keane, 27, rides most of their string in Ireland and has got the call-up after unlucky Hornby met roadblock after roadblock in the late stages of the Epsom Classic.
Trained by Ralph Beckett, Westover is the 11-10 favourite for the race at the Curragh this Saturday and Hornby only learnt of the decision on Monday.
The jockey, who won his first Group 1 on Beckett’s Scope last season, is not booked for any rides in Britain on Saturday.
The 27-year-old started out at Andrew Balding’s but has built up a strong partnership with Beckett in the past two seasons.
Juddmonte are apparently keen to have a jockey on board who knows the Curragh well.
Beckett refused to shed light on jockey plans for the weekend but said: “The horse is well. This has been the obvious race since Epsom and we always had half an eye on it.
“We’ve not had to do much with him, it’s just been a case of ticking him over and keeping him relatively fresh.”
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FUMING Dave Loughnane has slammed the BHA stewards following Walbank’s controversial defeat at Royal Ascot.
His horse finished second to 50-1 stunner The Ridler, but the winning rider Paul Hanagan was slapped with a ten-day ban after the race.
Hanagan cut across the field in the final stages of the five furlong Group 2 and Loughnane’s Walbank was checked heavily in running.
Third-placed Crispy Cat and Brave Nation in fourth also had their chances seriously harmed as The Ridler hung across the track.
Loughnane and Walbank’s angry owner Kia Joorabchian are keen to appeal the result but also hope the case might lead to a change in the rules for dangerous and careless riding.
Joorabchian was furious with the decision and has become disillusioned with racing in Britain.
Loughnane, 35, said: “Paul Hanagan is a top, world-class jockey and he had his stick in the wrong hand and made no effort to pull it over.
“As we’ve seen many times in this country before, the stewards don’t seem to want to do anything about it.
“They’re not willing to even look at the rules yet and I don’t know who or how many horses are going to have to get hurt before something is done about it.
“Walbank ran his race, but it’s just very disappointing that someone can ride dangerously and win a race.
“Yes, he beat us a length and a quarter, but there is a difference between careless riding and dangerous riding and to me that was straight up dangerous riding.”
In Hong Kong, America and Australia the result would have been amended and The Ridler would have been thrown out.
Loughnane, an Irishman who spent time Down Under, reckons it’s about time the rules were changed in Britain for safety reasons.
He said: “James Doyle’s horse [Brave Nation] effectively clipped heels with the horse and it’s a 50-50 then if someone comes down.
“Had that happened then we’d be having a very different conversation. It’s about time the rules were changed and that stewards stepped up to the plate.
“They’re in a position where they are supposed to govern our sport. Well, they need to start doing that.”
Loughnane and Joorabchian’s AMO Racing’s appeal could be a game-changer for the sport if the BHA does look at the rules.
The line between dangerous and careless riding is rarely crossed but is left open-ended and grey in the current rule book.
Things could get messy in the hearing if lawyers from both sides make their determined cases. It might, though, be for the best.
OAKS winner Tuesday could make a shock appearance in Saturday’s Irish Derby.
The Curragh run a ‘win and you’re in’ scheme so Aidan O’Brien would get his €75,000 supplementary fee back if she wins.
Ballydoyle are yet to finalise their line-up for the Irish Classic, but it would be some show of faith in his filly if she took on the boys.
Or, perhaps, a kick in the teeth to those supporters of O’Brien’s colts who, bar Luxembourg, look short of Group 1 level this summer.
David Simcock has ruled out his Cash from making the trip across.
Weekend Warrior
GLEN SHIEL is a Group 1 winner and should be much shorter than the 10-1 on offer for Saturday’s Chipchase Stakes at Newcastle. He might be eight, but his latest starts have been hugely underestimated and he holds great course form. Chance him each-way.
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