6 days ago
Jockey Angela Jones has lost her appeal to have a 10-day suspension for careless riding quashed
Angela Jones has lost her appeal against a 10-day suspension for careless riding in a major blow to her chances of winning the Brisbane metro jockeys' premiership.
Jones is leading the metro standings with 64 victories – five ahead of apprentice Emily Lang – just a handful of city meetings left before the season finishes at the end of this month.
She copped a 10-day suspension after shifting out on favourite Floozie at the 200m mark during the $700,000 Group 1 Tattersall's Tiara at Eagle Farm on June 28, causing Andrew Mallyon on Bubba's Bay to check off the heels of Jake Bayliss on Abounding.
At the same time Tom Sherry, riding the eventual winner Tashi, shifted in, causing a 'bottleneck effect' in the 1400m major.
But in a stewards' hearing following the race, Sherry was given only a severe reprimand after landing his first Group 1 triumph, with 80 per cent of the blame for the incident apportioned to Jones, who finished fifth on the Tony Gollan -trained mare Floozie.
'We're satisfied that the charge of careless riding is established,' Queensland Racing Appeals Panel chairman Kerry O'Brien said as he delivered the verdict on Monday.
'We are satisfied further that the main contribution to this incident was the careless riding of the applicant (Jones).
'Indeed it may be that the finding of a 20 per cent contribution on the part of jockey Sherry was generous to the applicant.
'We're satisfied that the penalty imposed was an appropriate one in the circumstances.'
Jones, who represented herself in the hearing, admitted that she did shift in on Floozie but said that was 'quite irrelevant because it's actually leading up to the incident'.
'I think we probably only need to look at how far my horse has shifted once the tightening has begun on Andrew Mallyon's mount,' she added.
'If you only look from that point, I just can't see how you could argue that my horse has shifted greater than the amount the horses have shifted from the outside.
'Andrew Mallyon actually ends up on the heels of the horses to the outside, not mine.
'I'm not denying I caused the incident, I'm just arguing that I didn't cause more than 50 per cent of it.'
"It's Tashi's tiara!" ðŸ''
Tashi brings the blessings today and wins the Tatt's Tiara for @SnowdenRacing1, and doesn't @tomo_sherry love it, a Group 1 win! 🙌 @BrisRacingClub
— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) June 28, 2025
But the appeals panel, consisting of O'Brien, Ken Waller and Edwin Wilkinson, disagreed and ordered the penalty stand.
Jones started her 10-day suspension on Saturday night after riding two winners, including The Three Hundred in the $300,000 Group 3 Winx Guineas (1600m), on Caloundra Cup day at Corbould Park on the Sunshine Coast.
'From the evidence, if it were not for the contributing actions of Sherry's mount on Tashi, the incident would not have occurred,' she argued in the hearing.
'Or the alternative, it cannot be established, entailing reasonable satisfaction, that my ride on Floozie contributed 80 per cent to the incident and that while my ride has been careless, warrants a 10-day suspension, particularly considering that Sherry only received a reprimand.'
Brett Wright, representing the Queensland Racing Integrity Commission, argued that Jones was the main contributor to the incident.
'From the stewards' perspective and their belief in watching the video and the evidence that was taken, we believe that Ang Jones' mount has shifted almost two horses, taking Andrew Mallyon out and obliging him to shift out towards the heels of Jake Bayliss,' Wright said.
