Ludlow Stewards - punter's friend or not enough tonic with their gin?

I caught a little bit of the Morning Line yesterday where the panel was discussing the Jason Maquire ban. Subject to appeal he's set to miss the entire Cheltenham festival after Ludlow stewards ruled that he'd not tried hard enough on Ben Pauling's horse, Born to Succeed. This must be heartbreaking for the jockey who suffered a serious injury from a fall on the eve of last year's festival and was off the track for around 6 months. The feeling of the ML panel was that the punishment was extremely harsh. I've since had a look at the race and can't believe he's copped a ban. As punters I'm sure we can all recall tender rides that have cost us readies, but this instance to my eye, just doesn't fall into that category. Born to Succeed was extremely keen for the the first half of the race and hardly fluent at the obstacles. If you had put money on the animal you would have been fairly certain of the outcome with half a circuit to go. He did latch onto the leading group down the back straight but his early exertions then took their toll entering the home straight and Maquire brought him home in his own time. In addition to the jockey ban, the trainer copped a 3 grand fine and the horse has been order to stay in his barn for 40 days. Seems incredibly harsh to me. Thoughts?

 

Yep he's appealing Oddy. Just watched a race at Fontwell where the jockey sat motionless on her mount for the entire race and finished second. I suspect the Ludlow stewards would have banned her for a year.

 

I've watched this race a few times, and i feel Maguire gave up to early on the horse. It was a poor ride in general not allowing the horse his head in the early stages, and then getting him to make up lots of ground on the leading pack. I can understand pulling him back if your in touch with the main pack, but I don't understand doing it and allowing the lead pack to get so far ahead.

The horse may not have been good enough to figure in the finish thanks to the bad ride it had received, however he still should have tried much harder than he did. It's amazing what some horses can find if given a serious whack. Not all horses respond instantly to the whip, they need a few whacks before they'll start putting in maximum effort.

The morning line obviously would come down on the jockeys side, as they always do in these situations, as there never likely to want the Ludlow stewards on as guests.

It's harsh that he misses Cheltenham, but he definitely deserved some sort of ban for the ride. Its just unfortunate for him that it falls during Cheltenham.

 

I realise that oddy, but I just thought he made the horse go even slower than the race required the horse to go. I think he should of at least allowed the horse abit more reign early on. He allowed the horse to get very detached from the main pack.