BHA ‘gathering evidence’ after Cheltenham start incident

The British Horseracing Authority’s inquiry into a complaint by Irish amateur jockey Declan Queally against Nico de Boinville will conclude after the Cheltenham Festival.

De Boinville and Queally exchanged words as they tried to secure a position close to the tapes at the start of the Turners Novices’ Hurdle, with the race going off four minutes late following a prolonged effort to get the 21 runners into a suitable order.

Returning to the weighing room following the race, Queally, whose mount I’ll Sort That finished fifth, told Matt Chapman on ITV Racing: “The start was a bit of a mess and I got trapped back further than I wanted.

“I was being abused by an English rider Nico de Boinville and it’s not very nice. I’m an amateur coming here riding in front of my kids and that, it’s horrific.”

Riding runner-up Act Of Innocence, De Boinville responded: “Maybe he should look in the mirror.”

It later transpired Queally had made an official complaint due to “an incident at the start”, but that process is not expected to be completed for a few days.

A BHA spokesperson said: “The process of gathering evidence will continue over the course of the coming days and will involve speaking to jockeys and reviewing broadcast footage.

“This process will take some time and will therefore not be concluded during the Festival.”

Queally was one of four jockeys along with Jack Kennedy, Danny Gilligan and Darragh O’Keeffe to receive a ban as they “had not approached the tape at a walk or a jig-jog thereby causing a false start, resulting in a standing start.”

The BHA is further planning a full review into the start of Cheltenham Festival races once the meeting is over.

Brant Dunshea, chief executive of the BHA, said: “It has been a tremendous two days of racing so far at the Festival, but we share the frustrations of jockeys, trainers and punters regarding the starts.

“We have full faith in our teams of starters, many of whom are former jockeys, and the data shows that away from the Festival our starting procedures work well.

“However, there are clearly several factors unique to Cheltenham which make the starting of races at the Festival extremely challenging, despite the measured changes made ahead of this year in collaboration with the jockeys and racecourse.

“We will therefore carry out this review ahead of the next Festival.

“In the meantime, we will continue to speak to the riders competing this year to see what steps can be taken to improve the starts for the remaining two days.”