Rossa Ryan Cleared to Ride at York Ebor After Ban Reduced on Appeal

Rossa Ryan will be available for this month’s York Ebor Festival after successfully reducing his suspension from 28 days to 10 following an appeal.

The jockey had originally received a four-week ban after being found guilty of easing his mount, Thunder Home, before the finish at Sandown last month. However, an independent appeal panel ruled on Tuesday that there was not enough certainty to conclude the horse would have won had Ryan continued riding all the way to the line.

Instead, the panel determined Thunder Home could have won rather than would have won, a distinction that resulted in a significantly shorter suspension under the rules.

During the hearing, Ryan argued he had not committed any offence and maintained that he had continued to ride his horse throughout the closing stages.

“I have never stopped riding my mount,” he insisted.

The appeal panel rejected that argument, agreeing with the British Horseracing Authority’s view that Ryan briefly stopped riding because he believed the race had already been won. However, it did not accept that the result would definitely have been different had he ridden all the way to the finish.

Explaining the decision, panel chair James O’Mahony said: “There is one of us who rode in many races and some of us who watched many races – and our conclusion, having regard to everything, particularly the momentum of the respective horses, is that this is a case of ‘could’ and not ‘would’.”

Ryan’s revised suspension is set to begin on 6^th August and conclude before the York Ebor Festival gets underway on 19 August, allowing one of Britain’s leading jockeys to take part in one of the biggest meetings of the Flat racing season.