Jockey slapped with mammoth 18-day ban as horse racing fans slam harsh decision

Jockey Callum Shepherd has been banned for 18 days after he was adjudged to have failed to ride out a surefire winner. The 27-year-old was slapped with the suspension after missing out on victory in the seven-furlong handicap at Kempton on Wednesday.

Brighton-born Shepherd opened up some daylight ahead of the pack while riding Thorntonledale Max in the final stretches of the evening fixture. However, favourite Flavour Maker came back to force a dead heat in the final seconds and was ultimately named the winner.

Racing prospect Shepherd appeared to ease down slightly just as Thorntonledale Max - trained by David Simcock - crossed the line at Kempton. His suspension will run from September 4 to September 21 and means he's now ineligible to compete for the Haydock's Sprint Cup, Doncaster's St Leger and the Ayr Gold Cup.

"Callum Shepherd, the rider of Thorntonledale Max, which dead-heated for first, had failed to ride out to the winning post," read the stewards' report. "After being interviewed and shown recordings of the incident, Shepherd was suspended for 18 days for failing to take all reasonable and permissible measures on a horse which would have finished out-right first."

Throngs of supporters dubbed the decision "harsh" and referred to other, more egrigious examples from jockeys have gone unpunished. However, Shepherd will have no choice but to serve his suspension for most of next month.

"Worse than VAR in football, this stewarding lark," wrote one disgruntled fan in response to the ban. "How many times do they want jockeys to hit the horse?"

Another remarked: "That's rough. He only stops riding virtually on the line and it's not clear the horse had any more to give whatever he did."

Numerous fans referenced James Doyle's recent ride aboard No Retreat in a Windsor maiden, suggesting this was another example of the sport lacking consistency. Doyle appeared to ease up towards the line and was beaten by a short head, but stewards accepted his explanation that he had become unbalanced due to No Retreat's actions.

However, one spectator remarked online that Doyle's situation was "10 times worse" than Shepherd's, even though he got off without any form of ban. Fans have frequently complained about a lack of consistency in stewards' punishments regarding these kinds of situations.

Earlier in August, Alec Voikhansky was slapped with a 28-day ban for failing to ride out to the line during a maiden at Bath. Richard Hannon-trained Power of Twins appeared set for victory at big odds over five-and-a-half furlongs before coming up short.