Racing golden girl Jamie Kah won’t be allowed to ride again until next year after being given an extra two-month ban for lying to stewards in the wake of last month’s illegal Airbnb gathering at Mornington.
Already banned for three months after pleading guilty to being at the party with several other jockeys, in breach of Victoria’s Covid rules, Kah has been slapped with an extra two-month suspension.
Just days after winning the Scobie Breasley Medal as Victoria’s best jockey, last season’s record-breaking champion rider has been banned from riding until the last week of January next year.
It could cost Kah up to a $1m in lost earnings over the lucrative spring racing carnival.
The Victorian Racing Tribunal was not satisfied with her explanation as to why she didn’t declare certain other jockeys were present at the gathering.
Kah told stewards she did not tell them Mark Zahra attended the gathering because he was only there “briefly” for a “few beers”.
Details of Kah’s interviews with stewards were revealed in a seven-page Victorian Racing Tribunal decision, which stated her “explanation is far from convincing.”
Kah did not reveal Zahra was at the property when originally quizzed by stewards who found out about the party following a noise complaint to police.
VRT chairman Judge John Bowman said the tribunal considered the charges of attending the illegal gathering, for which she received three months, and providing false and/or misleading evidence as being separate charges that required separate sanctions.
Kah was on Wednesday found guilty of providing stewards with false and/or misleading evidence after the tribunal found she held back information from stewards concerning Zahra’s attendance at the gathering.
The 25-year-old joins Zahra and apprentice Celine Gaudray in being found guilty of the charge and having their original three-month bans extended.
Zahra had one month added and Gaudray had two weeks tacked on, with further suspended bans hanging over their heads for the next two years.