The Golden Rose meeting was shaping as potentially the biggest of jockey Christian Reith’s career but it turned into a nightmare at Rosehill on Saturday.
Reith rode the favourite Nechita in the $1 million Golden Rose (1400m), chasing a first Group One win of his career, but he was suspended for careless riding on the filly who finished sixth after hitting the lead in the straight.
Reith was suspended for nine meetings after being found guilty of causing interference to Jim Cassidy’s mount Amorino at the first turn of the feature race.
The suspension is set to start after next Saturday’s George Main Stakes meeting and rules him out of two feature meetings including Epsom Handicap day on October 6.
He can return on October 7.
The jockey narrowly avoided another suspension after he weighed in 1kg over aboard Crafty Irna in the Group Three Kingston Town Stakes (2000m).
Crafty Irna finished 1-1/2 lengths behind winner Stout Hearted in second and just in front of third-placed Strawberry Boy.
Crafty Irna’s trainer Ron Quinton had requested a bigger girth strap from Reith who then didn’t reweigh himself and returned after the race 1kg overweight.
He was fined $600.
“Knock on wood because if you had run third you are going to get a month for that,” chief steward Ray Murrihy told Reith.
