Diore Lia, the no-hoper whose presence in the field for the Derby has divided opinion in racing, will miss Saturday’s Classic after the British Horseracing Authority refused to accept the declaration of Gina Mangan, an apprentice rider with no experience of Epsom, as the filly’s jockey.
Richard Aylward, Diore Lia’s owner, decided to take her out of the race on Wednesday evening after being informed of the BHA’s decision. Earlier, Mangan had picked up a four-day ban for careless riding in an apprentice handicap at Kempton Park. In a statement on Wednesday evening Jamie Stier, the BHA’s chief regulatory officer, said that it would be “in the best interests of racing” for Mangan’s declaration to be refused by the regulator.
“The BHA has been in contact with Mr [John] Jenkins, the trainer of Diore Lia,” Stier said, “and the owner’s representative, regarding Gina Mangan’s participation [in the Derby]. Following these discussions the connections were this afternoon informed that the BHA has decided under Rule (F)83 that it would be in the best interests of the sport not to accept the declaration of Gina Mangan as the rider of Diore Lia should she be put forward for the ride in the Derby.
“Everyone involved in horse racing has a responsibility to place the welfare of our participants, both equine and human, first. It is in this context that the decision has been made. While risk can never be removed entirely, it is possible to identify factors that can increase risk, and act on them. While Miss Mangan has held her licence for a number of years she remains inexperienced, with only 69 rides, and one winner to her name. She has never ridden at Epsom and certainly never ridden in a race on the scale and stage of the Derby, with all the unique challenges it presents.”
Stier added: “We fully understand that this will be extremely disappointing for Miss Mangan, however we believe that the decision is the correct one in the best interests of all concerned and the sport. Should the BHA have not acted and an incident have occurred, then the disappointment of one rider could have been placed in stark contrast with the potential consequences.” Aylward had pledged any prize money earned by Diore Lia to charity, though the filly would have been hopelessly outclassed in Saturday’s race and was almost certain to finish last.
Mangan had also said that she would donate her riding fee to Aylward’s chosen charity, the Great Ormond Street Hospital for children. Racing had seemed evenly divided during the week, between those who felt Diore Lia had no place in Saturday’s Classic and others who took a opposing view that having paid the entry fee like everyone else, her owner had every right to see his filly run and pick a jockey of his choosing.
Stier’s statement was also in sharp contrast to comments on the issue reported in the Racing Post on Monday, when he said that “there is nothing in the rules to prevent Gina taking the ride”.
Aylward told the Racing Post on Wednesday evening that he believed “other trainers had put pressure on the BHA” to keep Mangan out of the race.
“An awful lot of money was riding on the horse in small bets from all over Britain,” Aylward said. “All these people are getting let down. The charity is getting let down. They’re not hurting me, they’re hurting other people.
“The horse could have run a very good race. A lot of money has gone into this in the last two or three years, only for them to do this to me the day before declarations.”
BHA £425,000 out of pocket after Best case
The British Horseracing Authority said on Wednesday that the disciplinary process which led to the trainer Jim Best being banned for ordering a jockey to stop his horses cost the regulator a total of £425,000. The financial impact of the case was revealed as the BHA published its annual report and accounts for 2016, showing a broadly positive year with increases in such key indicators as the number of owners, the number of horses in training and average field sizes.
The Authority also recorded a deficit of £175,000, well below the forecast level of £350,000, despite the unexpected hole in its accounts as a result of the proceedings against Best.
Best was initially banned from racing for four years in April 2016 when a disciplinary panel chaired by the solicitor Matthew Lohn decided the trainer had ordered Paul John, a jockey attached to the Sussex stable, to deliberately stop his mount in two races in December 2015.
The verdict was quashed, however, when it emerged that Lohn had accepted paid work for the BHA while also serving on disciplinary panels, raising a possible perception of bias. A second hearing of the case in December 2016 came to the same conclusion as the first but imposed a ban of only six months on Best, who chose not to appeal the verdict.
Lohn has never commented publicly on his role in the long and expensive process and will not be required to do so by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), even now that the full cost of the proceedings to the BHA has become apparent.
“This was clearly a high-profile and sensitive matter,” an SRA spokesperson said on Wednesday. “After examining all the evidence given to us from a number of parties, we closed the matter without taking any further action.”
Nick Rust, the BHA’s chief executive, said on Wednesday that the cost of the Best case had been covered by internal savings and had not been paid from the fees it levies on owners, trainers and jockeys.
Rust said: “I am pleased to say that, through active management of our overall budget, we ended the year £175,000 better off than forecast, despite the one-off impact of costs incurred in relation to a perception of bias with our disciplinary panel.”
Racing’s long campaign for a reformed funding system to capture bets placed offshore on the sport finally came to fruition last month, and the sport racing hopes to see an extra £30m-40m returning to the sport each year as a result.
The final year of the old system was marked by increases in several important indicators, including the total number of runners (89,616 versus 88,075 in 2015), and the average field size in British racing, which rose for the third year running, from 8.77 to 8.93. The number of horses in training was also up, from 13,886 in 2015 to 14,033, while 63.9% of races (versus 61.7% in 2015 and 59.2% in 2014) had eight or more runners, which is a key metric in terms of encouraging betting turnover.
Al Wukair, who finished third behind Churchill in the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket, will miss the Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby) on Sunday after a minor setback. André Fabre’s colt was expected to be a leading contender for the Classic at Chantilly.
“André wasn’t happy with him,” Harry Herbert, racing manager for Al Wukair’s owner, Al Shaqab Racing, said on Wednesday. “He didn’t think he was 100% so sadly he will miss the race. We still have [the French 2,000 Guineas winner] Brametot, who we own with the Augustin team, in the race to fly the flag, so to speak.
“It’s disappointing, but you can’t run a horse like this in a Group 1 if they are not 100%.He’s such an exciting horse and André didn’t want to risk him. We will regroup now and try to get to the bottom of the problem, if there is one, and then go from there. I would say he’s unlikely to go to the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot [in mid-June].”
Ten fillies were declared on Wednesday for the Oaks at Epsom on Friday, the first day of the Derby Festival meeting. Rhododendron, runner‑up in the 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket, is now odds-on across the board at a top price of 10-11 to maintain Aidan O’Brien’s perfect record in English and Irish Classics this season, while John Gosden’s Enable, the Cheshire Oaks winner, is the 6-1 second-favourite.
Thursday’s tips, by Greg Wood
Lingfield 1.40 Not After Midnight 2.10 She Believes 2.40 Always Thankful 3.10 Pondering 3.40 Desert Explorer 4.10 Rotherwick 4.40 Epsom Secret 5.10 Zubaidah
Hamilton 2.00 Villa Tora 2.30 Noah Amor 3.00 Control Centre 3.30 Kingthistle 4.00 Titi Makfi 4.30 Indian Giver 5.00 Tread Lightly
Wolverhampton 1.50 Menelik 2.20 World Power 2.50 My Girl Maisie 3.20 La Vie En Rose 3.50 Pavillon (nb) 4.20 Kafeel 4.50 Makhfar 5.20 Air Of York
Chelmsford 6.10 Emilia James 6.40 Excellent George 7.10 Tricorn (nap) 7.40 Illaunmore 8.10 Buxted Dream 8.40 Cape Peninsular 9.10 Master Dancer
Newcastle 6.20 London Glory 6.50 Enjoy Life 7.20 Almane 7.50 Mulligatawny 8.20 Hadley 8.50 Poppy In The Wind
Ffos Las 6.00 Jonagold 6.30 Belmount 7.00 Ascendant
7.30 Prettylittlething 8.00 Hint Of Grey 8.30 Pongo Twistleton 9.00 Powderonthebonnet
