For how long was Oisin Murphy banned?

Champion jockey in 2019, 2020 and 2021, Oisin Murphy has nonetheless fallen foul of racing authorities, at home and abroad, on several occasions throughout his career. In June, 2019, Murphy was stood down for the day after providing a breath sample containing alcohol above the threshold level for race riding at Salisbury. In November, 2020, he was banned for three months by the French racing authority, French Galop, after providing a urine sample that tested positive for metabolites of cocaine at Chantilly in July that year. While for some of us being hedonistic involves something like playing the online blackjack in the hope of a winning streak, Oisin was clearly keen on a bit more action!

In December, 2021, Murphy handed in his jockey’s licence, pending disciplinary action for breaching Covid-19 protocols in 2020 and two more failed tests for alcohol, one at Chester in May, 2021 and the other at Newmarket in October, 2021. Appearing before the independent disciplinary panel of the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) in February, 2022, Murphy admitted all five charges against him, including ‘acting in a manner which is prejudicial to the proper integrity, conduct or good reputation of the sport’. He received three 11-month suspensions, albeit to run concurrently, plus an additional 100 days for alcohol breaches, backdated to the day on which he relinquished his licence. Thus, Murphy, 26, effectively received a 14-month ban and is ineligible to reapply for his jockey’s licence until mid-February, 2023. He was also fined just over £31,000. A hefty sum for most, for instance as a win on online casino sites. Playing those would’ve been a wiser decision in terms of getting a thrill (and hopefully a win!) fthan the paths he chose.

 

Reflecting on his behaviour, Murphy said, ‘I couldn’t undo the lies and deceit. Now that I’m sober I’m a different person and I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have made those errors sober, but I can’t go back in time and I’m afraid they were grave issues.’

 

Who decides which races are Group One, Group Two or Group Three?

Who decides which races are Group One, Group Two or Group Three? Our stateside friends playing the best payout online casino usa, have asked for a post on Group races… so your wish is my command! The classification of Group One, Group Two and Group Three races, collectively known as ‘Pattern’ races, is controlled by the European Pattern Committee (EPC), whose members are Great Britain, Ireland, France and Germany.

The European Pattern was introduced in 1971, to avoid the possibility of prestigious French races being restricted to horses trained in France. Casino en ligne en france fans may be well aware of this. Previously, penalties in such races were determined by the monetary value of the races a horse had won which, granted that French prize money was much higher than elsewhere in Europe, often left them at the mercy of foreign-trained horses. Instead, Pattern races were arranged, by importance, such that penalties could be based on quality, rather than monetary value.

Under normal circumstances, the EPC monitors the quality of Pattern races, based on a rolling three-year average of the official ratings of the first four finishers; in a Group One race, for example, the average official rating must be maintained at 115, or higher. If a Pattern race fails to fulfil or, indeed, exceeds expectations, it can be downgraded or upgraded at the discretion of the EPC. However, in the wake of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the EPC has announced to that no such changes, one way or the other, will be made in 2021.

Where, and what, is Garrison Savannah?

Long before playing the best paying casino online was an option, readers of a certain age may well remember Garrison Savannah, a top-class steeplechaser trained by Jenny Pitman. In 1990, Garrison Savannah upstaged his better-fancied stable companion, Royal Athlete, by winning the Sun Alliance Chase at the Cheltenham Festival. However, in 1991 he looked, briefly, as if he might join the legendary Golden Miller as a winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup and Grand National in the same season. He only just held on when beating The Fellow by a short head in the ‘Blue Riband’ event but, less than a month later, established what appeared to be an unassailable lead on the run to the final fence in the National. Sadly, for him, it wasn’t; he weakened from the Elbow and was headed by Seagram, who forged clear in the closing stages to win by 5 lengths.

Garrison Savannah, the horse, was named after Garrison Savannah, the racecourse, which is situated just east of Bridgetown, the capital city of Barbados, and is home to the Barbados Turf Club. Considered one of the finest parade grounds in the West Indies during colonial times, Garrison Savannah has been the home of horse racing on the tiny island since the middle of the nineteenth century. As such, it is one of the oldest racecourses in North or South America. The next time you’re stateside and playing the best online slots usa, consider what amazing sights and history is out there for lovers of betting and sport. The Sandy Lane Gold Cup, run over 1,800 metres, or approximately nine furlongs, on the first Saturday in March, is the most prestigious race of the year at Garrison Savannah.

Who was Tod Sloan?

Not to be confused with the Canadian ice hockey player of the same name, James Forman ‘Tod’ Sloan was an American jockey whose celebrity was such that he inspired the title character in the Broadway musical ‘Little Johnny Jones’ by George M. Cohan. The real-life ‘Yankee Doodle’ did, indeed, come to London, or at least to Britain, where he popularised theso-called ‘American seat’ or ‘monkey crouch’ style of riding, which would eventually be adopted worldwide. It was a different time, with no best usa online casino fast payout sites, or Internet at all of course. A glimpse into the past!

In a bright, but brief, riding career in Britain, Sloan won the 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket on Sibola, owned by Lord William Beresford and trained by Texan John Huggins, in 1899 and the Gold Cup at Ascot on Merman, owned by celebrated society beauty Lily Langtry and trained by Jack Robinson, in 1900. He might also have won the Derby, had his mount Holocauste not broken down with a shattered pastern a quarter of a mile from home, when in the lead. However, contemporary reports suggests that the eventual winner, Flying Fox, who went on to win the Triple Crown, had already taken his measure.

In 1901, under suspicion for betting on races in which he had ridden, Sloan was informed by the Jockey Club that his licence would not be renewed. A reciprocal arrangement with the American Jockey Club meant that the official suspension also applied in his native land, so his riding career was effectively over. Nevertheless, Sloan was elected to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1955. In todays online world where we can be sat in the UK while playing new online casinos australia, it’s fascinating to learn that even in days gone by some industrious types were rerally well travelled (in the physical rather than virtual sense!).

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