Rossa Ryan’s pursuit of a first British jockeys’ championship has suffered a major setback after he received a 28-day suspension for easing up before the finish and losing by a nose at Sandown.
The Irish jockey appeared to have Thursday’s maiden over 1,400 meters under control after making the running aboard Thunder Home, only to stop riding for several strides as Jamie Spencer produced newcomer Zero Error with a late challenge.
Ryan began driving again close to the line, but Zero Error arrived in time to win by the narrowest margin.
Sandown stewards concluded Thunder Home would have won had Ryan ridden him fully through the finish and suspended the multiple Group 1-winning jockey from August 6 to September 2.
The ban rules Ryan out of the Ebor meeting at York and leaves him with significant ground to make up in his attempt to close the gap on championship rivals Billy Loughnane and Oisin Murphy.
Ryan sits third in the standings with 58 winners and had spoken about challenging for the title after riding Amber Ocean to victory at Chepstow last week.
He will also miss next week’s Glorious Goodwood meeting because of a separate six-day suspension, which runs from July 28 to August 2, for using his whip once above the permitted level aboard Tabletalk at York.
The stewards’ report said: “Rossa Ryan, the rider of Thunder Home, had appeared to stop riding on the run to the line before recommencing his ride in the final strides to finish second, beaten by a nose.
“After being interviewed and shown recordings of the incident, Ryan was suspended for 28 days for failing to take all reasonable and permissible measures to obtain the best possible placing on a horse that would have finished first.”
