Jamie Kah faces an uncertain spring as the pin-up jockey of Australia’s riding ranks prepares to answer a running and handling charge that will be played out before the Victorian Racing Tribunal.
Racing Victoria stewards have charged Kah over her ride in the Group 3 McNeil Stakes at Caulfield on August 31 when her mount Let’sfacethemusic finished fifth to boom three-year-old Growing Empire.
Let’sfacethemusic, who races out of the Mick Price-Mick Kent Jr stable, was beaten 4.5 lengths as an $8.50 chance.
Stewards opened an inquiry into Kah’s ride at the end of the meeting before resuming their questioning at Sandown last week.
They issued one charge against the jockey on Monday in what they classified as a “serious offence”.
The charge falls under AR 129(2) of Australia’s racing rules which says: “A rider must take all reasonable and permissible measures throughout the race to ensure that the rider’s horse is given full opportunity to win or to obtain the best possible place in the field.”
Because stewards deemed the charge serious, they escalated to the VRT where a date for a hearing hasn’t been fixed.
This leaves the possibility open for the case to be heard after the spring carnival.
Stewards said they found three areas of concern over Kah’s ride in the home straight.
Stewards allege that between the 175m and the 100m, Kah failed to ride her mount with enough urgency and purpose to improve her position.
They also alleged there was room for Kah to make a run between Band of Brothers and Stay Focused where there was sufficient room and that her ride lacked vigour over the final stages.
Kah told stewards during their inquiry that she didn’t feel comfortable taking the run and that “she didn’t ride well” at the Caulfield meeting.
AR129(2) is a rule that applies specifically to jockeys with the aim to uphold the integrity of racing.
Kah is the latest among several high-profile Australian-based jockeys charged under the rule in recent years.
James McDonald was handed a three-week suspension in 2o20 but his ban was reduced to seven days when an appeal panel found that his ride “was more an error of judgment”.
Noel Callow received a four-week suspension in early 2021 for a September 2020 ride while Sam Clipperton earned the ire of stewards in 2019.
Clipperton had a four-week penalty reduced to three weeks on appeal.
Kah is a 14-time group 1 winner who missed most of the 2022 spring carnival after a breach of RV’s COVID-19 protocols.
She also spent extended time on the sidelines after a serious fall at Flemington in March 2023.
Kah also rode under an inquiry cloud during last year’s spring carnival before the VRT in December cleared her of conduct prejudicial to racing over the ‘white powder’ scandal.
