July 27, 2018
by Ross Stanley
Corey Bayliss, the Sunshine Coast apprentice whose first career victory was on Simply Showtime at Nanango in May 2016, was suspended for six weeks at Doomben last weekend.
He pleaded guilty to a charge under Australian Rule 135(b) of failing to take all reasonable and permissible measures throughout the six horse open sprint to ensure that his horse Tumbler was given full opportunity to win or to obtain the best possible place in the field.
Stewards claimed Bayliss should have taken his mount wider between the 500 and 400 metre spots and shifted wider to take a run that was available between the 400m and 300m points.
The official report states that, in determining the penalty, stewards took into account apprentice Bayliss’s guilty plea, his record, having previously been penalised for a breach of this rule, and his relative inexperience in riding in the metropolitan area.”
Corey’s previous infringement of A.R. 135(b) produced a month’s punishment.
It is worth recalling that episode by revisiting Gunsynd’s Gossip of February 17, 2017.
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Meanwhile, at Flemington last Saturday, Mitch Aitken pleaded guilty to a charge under the provisions of AR92(12) for failing to claim his full allowance on two occasions and was fined $500.
He was one kilogram over his declared minimum weight and it was his fourth offence this year under this rule.
Aitken pleaded guilty to a further charge of misconduct under the provisions of AR83a, the specifics of misconduct being:
(i) For disobeying a direction from a Steward to ensure he rides with the gear he weighs out with when weighing out to ride Credible Witness and…
(ii) After having weighed out to ride Credible Witness, he told a Steward a mis-truth regarding the riding gear he weighed out with.
For flouting a direction and apparently lying to a steward, the rider’s penalty was a three-week suspension.
The official report further indicated that, in making the assessment, Stewards took into account Aitken’s guilty plea and the fact that he is an apprentice.
There was no suggestion whatsoever that Bayliss’s performance was intentionally sinister.
Although it was pilot error by a city-Saturday greenhorn, his sentence is twice as long as the one handed out for what seems to be a much more serious misdemeanour by his Victorian counterpart.
A side issue has been the slanderous assertions made on the web by nom-de-plumes.
People are entitled to an opinion, but they need to responsibly avoid venturing to public pronouncements that may well be defamatory.
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Bits And Bridles
- Revelio, by scoring at Gympie last Saturday with Hannah English aboard, extended the Glenn Richardson stable’s run of Saturday wins to three in a row. No one could begrudge the Dane Shadow gelding a breakthrough success. The bay has registered six placings since prevailing at Toowoomba in May last year. The yard, having earlier supplied first placegetters at Wondai and Esk, will no doubt be well represented at Lee Park on August 4.
- Peter Jackson, Revelio’s part owner, is again supporting the upcoming feature program by sponsoring the $10,000 XXXX Nanango Cup (1600m). The six event card also carries a lucrative QTIS bonus Maiden (1000m). The Moffatdale Ridge Wines spot Fashion theme is “elegant black and ravishing red.”
- With the new season looming, membership of the Nanango Race Club is an attractive proposition. For the six fixtures for 2018-19, a Member and Guest subscription is only $66, a Single pass costs $35, and 25 year-olds (and under) only have to part with $25. Enquiries can be made by phoning the club on (07) 4163-2346.
