Just days after becoming the first female jockey to win the Scobie Breasley Medal, Jamie Kah is once again the talk of the racing industry after Racing Victoria stewards handed down a further two-month suspension for her involvement in the Mornington Airbnb saga.
Having already been served a three-month suspension alongside Ben Melham, Mark Zahra, Ethan Brown and Celine Gaudray, the star hoop was on Friday morning sentenced to another two months on the sidelines – which will see her out of the saddle until early next year – due to giving misleading evidence at an inquiry into an illicit party on August 25 while Victoria was in a statewide lockdown.
Kah had originally omitted the name of Zahra in the initial inquiry on August 26 but came forward on August 30 when directly confronted by the stewards.
PUNT DRUNK: SOMEONE IS LYING ABOUT JAMIE KAH, BUT WHO IS IT?
“Ms Jamie Kah, we have found you guilty of a breach of AR 232(i),” the Victorian Racing Tribunal decision read.
“We have found that you gave evidence at an interview of inquiry that was false or misleading.”
The decision further goes on to state that the excuse Kah gave was not accepted.
“Your evidence was that, whilst you knew that he (Zahra) had been at the house earlier, you thought that the Stewards were enquiring about who had been present at a later time when the police arrived,” it read.
“We have made it clear that this was an excuse which we simply do not accept.
“As we said in the cases of Ms Gaudray and Mr Zahra, the giving of false or misleading evidence to the Stewards is understandably a serious offence, even at the best of times.
“The work of the Stewards is demanding.
“The arrival of the COVID-19 epidemic and the Protocols increased those demands.
“Having to endure false of misleading evidence, and the resulting wastage of time, is something that they can ill afford.”
The Tribunal also noted that the consequences could have been dire given that the offence occurred during COVID-19 and so could have put horse racing into lockdown – something the sport has not had to endure during the two years of the global pandemic.
“Further, given that this offence occurred in the context of COVID-19, this giving of false or misleading evidence could have had disastrous consequences, both for those participating, other members of the industry with whom they came into contact and the general public,” the decision read.
“Many hours passed between your false or misleading evidence to the Stewards on 26 August 2021 and your ultimate decision on 30 August 2021 that Mr Zahra had been present at the party.
“Indeed, the greater part of a day (and his riding at jump-outs on 27 August 2021) had passed between Mr Zahra leaving the party and his admission to the Stewards.
“In short, there could have a calamity.”
Kah’s sidelining has already proved costly, as she lost the ride on Behemoth just 48 hours before his victory in the Group 1 Memsie Stakes.
