The Actuary Horse Racing Tips felt more than a little sympathy for poor Robert Hawker receiving a 12 day ban for his ride on Monderon in Taunton's 2:40 today. Although this code of racing is not my area of concern, for a jockey that only receives the occasional ride, I dare say that the punishment will have little to no impact. The real tragedy is that the Taunton Stewards, in an effort to justify their existence plucked this ride out as meriting such scrutiny.
All that Robert Hawker was guilty of was not having the skill and finesse to disguise the connections intentions. Shall we bury our head in the sand and pretend that horse racing is not a circus where a horse’s ability is not manipulated to best effect and reward.
Perhaps the intervention of the stewards in this case will leave us warm and cosy, safe in the knowledge that the eye of Saruman is everywhere and no stone will be un-turned in uncovering skulduggery.
The reality is that worse happens in every race, everyday of the week where the intentions of connections are paramount NOT form lines and ability. Top jockeys just happen to be far better at bouncing up and down on mounts in what looks to be rigorous effort, intentionally missing the break or running wide the whole trip, than the hapless Robert Hawker.
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