The jockey Callum McKinnes has been given an eight-week suspension under the non-trier rules for a ride described as “absurd” by a disciplinary panel. The 23-year-old said he had panicked when World Trip made “a gargling noise” on the run-in and hung off a true line on her way to finishing fifth in a Hereford novice hurdle last month, but admitted he had lied to the raceday stewards in claiming that a series of erratic movements he made in the saddle were just part of his normal riding style.
“After the last hurdle in particular, we can only describe some of his actions as absurd,” said Tim Charlton QC, who chaired the panel. McKinnes’s riding had been criticised at length by the British Horseracing Authority’s barrister,…
