Horse racing fans bemused by four-day ban handed to jockeys in post-race bust-up
Horse racing fans were left bemused as two jockeys were handed a four-day ban following a post-race bust-up.
Page Fuller and Lorcan Williams were seen coming to blows following their conditional jockey handicap hurdle at Newbury on Friday.
And stewards at the event reacted quickly, issuing four-day bans to both riders the same evening.
Fuller had won the race on Our Dot’s Baby, an 11-1 shot trained by Andy Irvine.
Wearing orange sleeves, the rider was quickly approached by Williams, pointing his finger furiously at the race winner.
It continues for 30 seconds as they trot along the course towards the exit.
While neither commented on the incident, Confirmation Bias jockey is believed to have been angry at a move by Fuller on the home turn which put his horse off balance.
The whole incident was caught on Racing TV’s cameras before being shared on social media.
And fans were left baffled when the news of their bands emerged later, slamming the decision.
“Four day ban? Is this an April Fools? Outrageous,” one viewer said.
Legendary racing broadcaster Cornelius Lysaght commented: “Unless something else happened away from the cameras – no suggestion – the more I think about this the more outrageous a stewards’ decision it becomes.
“Football reporting friend said: “How tame is that?”
While fellow jacket Tom Bellamy added: “Punishment for being competitive? Absolute nonsense.”
A fourth made a cheeky reference to a constant Premeir League talking point, with: “This is a joke – we’ll have VAR soon.”
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With a final fan simply saying: “Ban is completely pathetic and shameful.”
The Professional Jockey’s Association released a statement on Friday saying they would appeal the decision.
They wrote on Twitter: “The PJA will be lodging appeals on behalf of both Page Fuller and Lorcan Williams against the decision to find them in breach (of what we don’t know as the Stewards don’t say) and to suspend them for four days.”
It is not the first time riders have been caught clashing on the course as Irad Ortiz Jr was fined £700 this week for punching a fellow jockey.
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