‘Shocked’ jockey banned for a month after appearing to hit rival with his elbow mid-race

A JOCKEY has been banned for a month after he appeared to elbow a rival mid-race.

Australian racing star Aaron Bullock is going to challenge his charge of improper riding after cameras caught the fracas.

The incident happened not long after the horses had left the stalls

Stewards came down heavy on Bullock following a race at Tuncurry in Australia on Monday.

Bosses charged the 31-year-old jockey, who has won more than £5.8million in prize money, with ‘improper riding’.

The charge read that he had been done specifically for ‘raising his elbow and making contact with a fellow jockey’.

Stewards claimed Bullock, who was on Fairey Barracuda, made contact with rival Andrew Gibbons when he tried to shuffle Gibbons’ mount Belleplaine to the inside.

Fairey Barracuda finished third in the race but now the jockey faces the prospect of a month with no chance of making any money.

Punters.com.au report that the ‘shocked’ jockey is going to fight the charge.

If punishments dished out around the globe are anything to go by, Bullock can feel hard done by.

Leading jockey Irad Ortiz Jr was recently banned for 30 days after what punters called the ‘most dangerous’ mid-race move ever.

Ortiz Jr, who has won more than £22m on the track this year alone, drew widespread criticism for his tactics on Gran Casique in a race at Aqueduct, New York.

The carnage happened not at the end of the race with everyone flat out trying to win, but early on as riders jostled for position.

Ortiz Jr flew out of the stalls on 15-8 favourite Gran Casique last Friday.

But on his inside and in prime position hugging the rail was apprentice jockey Omar Hernandez Moreno on 7-1 Ragtime Blues.

Ortiz Jr’s wicked move was tough to spot at first glance, as the cameras following the horses were positioned to the side of the track.

Initially it looked like Moreno, a 7lb claimer, was sent flying from his horse when the colt lost his footing.

But the head-on footage was damning for Ortiz Jr, as it clearly showed him moving right across the track with ‘reckless abandon’ and banging into his rival.

One Twitter user posted: “Doesn’t get much worse than this.”

While another wrote: “That’s atrociously bad and dangerous riding.”

It was a minor miracle that Moreno and his mount escaped the incident without injury.

Ortiz Jr, who survived two further stewards’ enquiries after victories at the racetrack, does not plan to appeal his ban.

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