Jerk of the week award goes to.....

[my miss storm cat]

From Racing post.....

Mernagh lands two-day ban for hitting ride when dismounted

by Bill Barber
.
DEAN MERNAGH was suspended for two days after the stewards at Thirsk on Saturday evening found that he struck his mount Silidan “when dismounted”.

The stewards were alerted to the incident by a complaint from a racegoer.

The ban came 48 hours after Martin Dwyer had been suspended for striking his mount Double Spectre over the head - although the rider said it was down the neck - at Goodwood, and the RSPCA is to raise the issue when it meets with the HRA next week.

The Thirsk incident, not caught on film, happened after Mernagh had ridden the Mel Brittain-trained Silidan to finish last of the 11 runners, beaten 15 lengths, behind Trojan Flight in the 6f handicap.

A racegoer, who also called the Racing Post, claimed they saw Mernagh hit the horse once with his whip in the ribs.

The stewards called Mernagh and Brittain's representative Paul Eccles and, having heard their evidence, found Mernagh in breach of rule 153 and guilty of improper riding, banning him on May 23 and 24.

Thestipendiary steward on duty at Thirsk was Robert Earnshaw, who said on Sunday: "The incident was seen by a racegoer - it wasn't on film. “Dean admitted he had done it - the horse had been a difficult ride and he did it in frustration. Two days is a pretty standard punishment."

Neither Mernagh nor Brittain wished to comment when contacted by the Racing Post on Sunday.

The RSPCA has its annual meeting with the HRA next Monday, at which it will raise the issue, but its equine consultant David Muir said he believed a two-day ban was not enough for such an offence.

He said on Sunday: "There needs to be a clear message sent out that jockeys, like everyone else, have a responsibility to horse welfare and that this sort of behaviour is notconducive to good animal welfare."

Mernagh, along with fellow rider Tony Culhane, faces HRA charges of 'communicating information for reward' (rule 243), 'aiding or abetting a breach of the rules' (rule 220i), and 'misleading an official' (rule 220viii) over a number of races run between July 2003 and November 2003 at a forthcoming hearing.

[ArlJim78]

Two days! he got off light.

I think a more appropriate sentence would have been a crack with the whip across his ribs.