The Larry Cassidy saga is a long way from over in Brisbane with Racing Queensland set to appeal the overturning of the veteran jockey’s suspension.
For those that have come in late Cassidy was slugged with a three month ban after a September 17 ride at Doomben when he was aboard odds on favourite Trump.
It was alleged Cassidy didn’t give the horse every possible chance to win after he opted not to improve the position of the horse when an opening appeared in the middle stages.
It was a claim irrefutably denied by Cassidy who said he was simply riding to the instructions of the connections.
Cassidy took his case to the appeals committee and they agreed there was insufficient evidence for him to be banned.
Queensland stewards aren’t going to cop it though and the makings of an ugly legal battle are now underway.
Cassidy has been riding for nearly three decades and during the late 90’s enjoyed his most success when he was a regular feature atop the Sydney jockeys premiership.
He said that while the three month ban threatens to end his career, he’s most concerned about the impact this has had on his standing in the industry.
The following is an excerpt from his website following the appeal’s decision.
“This has cost me my reputation,” he said.
“I have been riding 26 years. I know everyone likes to think jockeys are crooks, but it’s simply not the case.
“The bottom line is that I feel although my name has been officially cleared by the First Level Appeals Committee, some real damage has been done.
“I know of rumours going around about myself. I also know they are 100 per cent not true.
“People will still believe what they want to believe and as long as the rumours persist you’ll have people believing them.
“Jockeys are only human. I’m far from being perfect and sometimes I muck up.
“I have to admit my ride on Trump was a bad ride, but that is all that it was.
“I don’t want people to have the perception out there that it was more than that.”
“What people don’t realise is that a charge like that can kill your career.”
