The latest twist on Martin Dwyer's India ban saga: Indian officials up Dwyer ban to eight months BY MARK SCULLY 8:00PM 12 AUG 2013 A "CONFUSED" Martin Dwyer has vowed to fight a decision by the Royal Western India Turf Club to increase to eight months the ban he picked up in February following an appeal. The Derby-winning jockey was told of the decision by his spokesman while riding at Wolverhampton yesterday but was waiting to receive official reasoning from India. Dwyer had appealed against a 56-day suspension given to him by stewards who deemed he had not allowed short-priced favourite Ice Age to run on its merits in a finish that led to protests from angry racegoers. "It seems like they have increased my suspension," Dwyer told the Racing Post last night. "My spokesman has told me it's been increased. "I don't know why or how but I'll have to wait for the official reasoning. I have 72 hours to appeal but I definitely will be appealing. "I am confused because I'm still waiting to see anything official so I don't want to say anything until then but I will appeal." If upheld, the ban will run from August 31 until April 30 2014. The race at Mahalaxmi in Mumbai on February 17 made headlines around the world after Dwyer reportedly had to be rescued by security guards as angry racegoers protested at his riding of Ice Age, the 6-4 favourite, who ran third. Head-on pictures showed Dwyer's mount veering to the right in the closing stages and colliding with a rival, after which Dwyer pulled his mount away. When he began to ride out Ice Age in the final strides, the filly hung right again with Dwyer reporting her to have bled during the race. Reaction on Twitter on Monday called for the BHA not to reciprocate the ban. The BHA's media manager Robin Mounsey said: "We have only just heard the reports emerging from India. We will await further information from the Royal Western India Turf Club before making any comment."
It sounds as if the Stewards are punishing him further for daring to appeal their original decision. I don't see how BHA can in all good faith reciprocate this ban.
Its fair to say then that he wont be returning to India very soon then...!!! Excuse my ignorance on this subject, but to what standard is Indian horse racing...??? Is it just another means of making money for the illegal crooks like we see in the cricket. And that the authorities sweep under the carpet anything that resembles a dodgy deal to protect these 'mafia' betting men... I know that we have had problems over here but your point of 'punishing him further for daring to appeal' seems to be very valid to me...
I don't know a great deal about Indian racing. There are certainly a large number of prominant breeders over there and it is a big export market for Britain and Ireland. From my understanding there are five racing authorities in India, with two authorities holding the majority of the power - each hates the other! They are members of the IFHA (International Federation of Horseracing Authorities), which is why the BHA reciprocates their bans.
I have great sympathy with the predicament Martin Dwyer finds himself in but also need ask the question why was he there? It was only the season before that Richard Hughes found himself in the same situation. The conclusion that was drawn from his situation was that the rules are implemented in India in a way that makes little sense to those used to riding in Europe. When it's possible to earn your living during the winter on the all weather or perhaps Dubai for some, India appears a strange destination for a British jockey. I know the country well and the culture and custom is a world away to what we are used to here and misunderstandings easy to come by, the appealing could be a case of perceived questioning of integrity or simply not deferring to authority. I hope the BHB will support him by not enforcing the ban here and issue a statement that they do not advise UK jockeys to ride in India. I could easily imagine a jockey coming here and from a less regulated country and end up with huge bans for flogging his mount and careless riding. These issues arise even through simply crossing the channel as every jockey from the UK understands that certain manoeuvres will lose you the race in France but win you the same race in the UK. Unfortunately when the bans are so huge it's not worth taking a chance riding in such a country.
Bluesky9: Unlike you, I certainly do not know India well, just brief interludes in airport transit lounges is about all I know about the country! I do believe, however, that it is rich in equine history, e.g. Polo and Horseracing, since the days of the Raj in fact. Not sure if it was John Masters, but there was something in one of his books which I found amusing. He related how a few Indian Army guys made a lot of money by using very simple names for their horses, if and when they found an animal with talent. You see, apparently Indians loved to back horses with fancy names, e.g. Golden Sunset, Diamond Princess, Brave Warrior, etc., and so these fellows named any good horses they had with monickers like Fred, Ron (apologies to our esteemed Moderator), Jack, etc. The Indians would ignore them when betting, thus giving the owners a chance of winning a bundle when the game was 'on', which they often did, so the story goes.
I like that story Swanhills, maybe we should all put in and buy a horse to be called 'only an Idiot', then we can clean up on it when everyone else avoids it.
Having seen the footage of the race at Mumbai on The Morning Line, there are some serious questions about the decision of the Royal Western India Turf Club in this matter. We have to accept that the local race rules will differ from those used here and in various top European countries; however, it is difficult to see how their ruling has not been seriously influenced by the fact that the punters were up in arms because the defeated horse was a heavily backed favourite. In this country we would have no problem with a jockey receiving a punitive ban if they were guilty of failing to ride a horse on its merits; that is, race fixing. In this instance they have quadrupled their original ban when Martin Dwyer appealed it without appearing to have given any grounds for doing so. Having not been present on the day of the race or party to any veterinary examination results, I will take the jockey’s word for it that the horse bled from the nose after the race. The visual evidence of the race video shows that in the closing stages the horse was hanging to its right, into the whip, and the jockey was forced to pull his horse off the runners on his inside to prevent interference. We see this course of action taken by jockeys every day of the week and it is not a riding offence. To not do so could result in serious injury to other horses and jockeys and would see jockeys receive substantial bans for careless or dangerous riding. If the situation arises where Dwyer is unsuccessful with his latest appeal, I fully expect that the BHA will refuse to recognise the ban.
I read in the post today that the horse was declared a non runner to appease the crowd who then got their money back. It appears Martin Dwyer is the fall guy for the stewards on the day not handling it in the correct way and cracking under pressure, it now becomes a face saving exercise which the BHB should have nothing to do with.
With the news today that Martin Dwyer has been unsuccessful with his appeal (the Indian authorities just reduced his ban back to the original ban), it now looks like this is going to come down to the BHA to kick this one into the long grass. There is no way that Dwyer would have been found guilty of failing to ride to obtain the best possible placing in this country and the Royal Western India Turf Club has effectively operated a kangaroo court, not even allowing the defendant legal representation. I am not saying that when we ran India it was necessarily totally fair and just but clearly since independence some of the old colonial ways appear to have been dispensed with by the natives.
Well done to the BHA on refusing to reciprocate the ban handed out to Martin Dwyer by the Royal Western India Turf Club. Also congratulations on not attempting to do so by invoking some obscure small print or using weasel words. Warning to all other British jockeys intending to ply their trade overseas this winter: if you go to Bongo Bongo Land and get banned due to their rules bearing no relationship to the reasonable and well practised rules of British horseracing, do not waste your money on the local appeal system but just stay at home and rely on British justice being enacted by our authorities. This year some jockeys might be tempted to stay and ride at Lingfield all winter and on Good Friday (18 April 2014) as there is a pot of money up for grabs, although it is debatable for how long this gimmick will survive.
