Racing: Fox protests his innocence and aims to fight ban

Sean Fox said yesterday that he was "99 per cent certain" to appeal against his 21-day suspension following the latest controversial incident in racing.

Sean Fox said yesterday that he was "99 per cent certain" to appeal against his 21-day suspension following the latest controversial incident in racing.

The jockey was banned by the Fontwell stewards after he was unseated from Ice Saint in the Cantor Sport Beginners' Chase on Monday. An inquiry was held into the running and riding of the horse, who drifted both on course and on the betting exchanges, after Fox appeared to step off his mount at the ninth fence.

The stewards found Fox in breach of rule 157, which states it is an offence for a jockey to fail to take all reasonable measures to obtain the best possible placing "with the intention of concealing the true ability of the horse or affecting the result of the race".

The horse opened at 2-1 on course and drifted to a starting price of 4-1 before the race. The Sun newspaper claimed yesterday that it was told in an anonymous phone call before the race that the horse would not win. An on-course bookmaker also claimed to have been tipped off about the result.

However, Fox yesterday denied any wrongdoing. "I'm 99 per cent certain in my own head that I want to appeal," he said. "I've never stopped a horse and never been in the stewards' room for anything like that. At the end of the day when your balance has gone, gravity takes over. The horse is a desperate jumper and before the race everybody in the weighing room was taking the mickey out of me for going out there.

"I wish now I'd never ridden the horse. I thought I was being brave riding it. I pulled my irons up a couple of holes because I thought, if he does fall, I can get away from him. I probably rode a couple of holes too short. People are saying I landed on my feet, but every jockey wants to land on his feet if he can. As for rolling, that is part of the job. Do they want us to fall on our head? We all tuck up and roll to look after ourselves.

"I've gone out there riding a bad jumper and if people have laid him, that's nothing to do with me. And I am not going to fall off a horse going 25 or 35 miles an hour.

"I was also off seven months last year with a fractured shoulder. The shoulder is still a niggle now. I dread falling off and if anyone thinks I would jump off on my left side, which is my bad one, they must be mad."

Ice Saint was twice a winner over hurdles for his trainer, Matt Gingell, but the Fontwell race was his first start over the bigger obstacles. Gingell backed his jockey. "Anyone who has ridden a horse over fences in a race could see and would be in agreement that Sean's got unseated," he said.

The Jockey Club spokesman, John Maxse, said: "I can confirm the security department are following up some avenues of inquiry before deciding whether a full investigation is warranted. It is my understanding that there was some information received about the race beforehand, although they [the security department] were not in contact with the betting exchange firms until after the race."