Racing: Culloty gives up Best Mate ride as he accepts ban

Jim Culloty yesterday surrendered the ride on Best Mate in the King George VI Chase without even taking the time to go to Jockey Club headquarters to argue his case. Instead, the jockey decided to ride at Exeter – and any punters who decided that his perverse determination to be at the Devon track must be a tip in itself were barking in the wrong part of the forest as Culloty ended the day winnerless. Their consolation might be that Culloty was out of pocket too, to the tune of £400, having forfeited his deposit for lodging an appeal.

Culloty's train of thought that took him to Haldon Hill rather than Portman Square was that without his chosen solicitor he could not win his case. The jockey had been making representation to have his case switched to next week when the solicitor Andrew Coonan, who had pulled off a low-grade miracle in getting Mick Kinane off a suspension that would have ruled him out of riding Galileo in Ascot's King George, would have been available.

"I couldn't have my solicitor there so there was no point going ahead," Culloty said. "He's busy in Ireland, so it would have to have been next week. Whatever chance I would have had, I would have had no chance without a solicitor."

Culloty, who missed the ride on Best Mate in last year's King George through injury, picked up the three-day suspension at Doncaster on Friday for failing to ride out to the finish on Beechwood and losing third place in a bumper.

John Maxse, the Jockey Club's director of communications, spoke after yesterday's unattended appeal and said: "I have sympathy with Jim Culloty in that his suspension means he will miss out on the ride on Best Mate on Boxing Day.

"However, I think it is fair to say that he did not help his cause today by choosing to ride at Exeter instead of attending his own appeal hearing and by failing to respond to requests made by telephone that he contact Portman Square.

"The disciplinary panel makes every effort to hold inquiries at times which cause the least inconvenience to all parties. Indeed the timing of today's Culloty hearing was designed to allow time for Mr Coonan to get to London from Ireland had he been able to.

"The fact that he did not attend today and that the appeal was withdrawn as soon as the application for an adjournment had been formally rejected, suggests that the primary reason for lodging the appeal was not to contest the original finding at Doncaster but rather to seek to put the appeal process temporarily on hold.

"The disciplinary panel kept Jim Culloty's £400 appeal deposit and the ban begins on Boxing Day."

The search for Culloty's replacement starts today and the bookmakers are unlikely to be offering odds about who the lucky recipient of the prize will be. Tony McCoy stepped in for the ride on Best Mate in last year's King George, when Henrietta Knight's stable star finished second to Florida Pearl, and there have been no signs of his powers waning since.

On hearing of Culloty's failure, Jim Lewis, Best Mate's owner, said: "Henrietta, myself and Terry [Biddlecombe, Miss Knight's husband] will be going to Uttoxeter tomorrow and we will make inquiries to see which jockeys are available.

"Tony McCoy is, of course, a possibility and is one of those who will be considered. But what we have to do before we make a decision is make sure that whoever we would like is available and that the stable he rides for agrees to let him off."

Lewis sympathised with Culloty and said: "Jim will be gutted. It was his [29th] birthday yesterday, so it's not a nice present. I feel very sorry for him."

Andrew Thornton was another rider who not only lost his appeal, but also forfeited his deposit for bothering the Jockey Club unnecessarily yesterday. Thornton's 10-day ban was imposed by the Cheltenham stewards for taking the wrong course on the cross-country track last Friday.

The declarations for the King George were made yesterday and Best Mate will face a maximum of 10 rivals, including Florida Pearl and last year's third, Bacchanal. The favourite's trainer, who also has Lord Noelie in the race, is expecting a tough fight."Best Mate and Lord Noelie are well but I don't think victory is clear cut," Knight said. "Bacchanal will pose a big threat, as well as Native Upmanship and Florida Pearl, and Douze Douze could run a big race over three miles."