Champion jockey’s appeal against ban and fine are dismissed.
After nearly eight months, the Gavin Lerena-Jason Gates whipping saga is over. But only in a legalistic sense.
The incident and its aftermath will linger in infamy in the South African racing game, agonised over for some time.
Calls for racing to “move on” quickly from an unsavoury moment are understandable but unrealistic – especially in the context of that day at Turffontein in January having made headline news around the world.
This week it was announced that Lerena, the country’s new champion jockey, had his appeal against punishment for whipping fellow rider Gates dismissed with costs.
The upshot is that Lerena will serve a 30-day suspension and pay a R100,000 fine. A further 60-day riding ban and R100,000 fine are suspended for two years.
He’ll serve the suspension from 12 September until 11 October, lessening chances of defending his championship title in the 2025/26 season – but not destroying them.
Pleaded guilty
Multiple National Horseracing Authority charges against Lerena – brought a full month after the race – centred on its statement “…that he rode Gimme A Storm in an unprofessional manner by changing his riding style by stopping riding, standing up in the stirrup irons and striking jockey Jason Gates across his back with his crop on at least two occasions in the running”.
Lerena pleaded guilty on some counts, not guilty on others, but was found guilty on all – after months of postponements and delays to hearings. He appealed against the punishment, which took more months to conclude.
Soon after the incident, Lerena released a statement apologising for his actions and admitting they were wrong.
One narrative was that he had been provoked by Gates striking him first, but Gates was not charged with this.
Gates was found guilty of riding “in a careless, negligent, reckless or dangerous manner by intentionally striking the crop out of jockey Lerena’s hand in the closing stages”. He was fined R10,000, with R5,000 suspended for two years.
The NHA announcement has reignited a debate that raged for months in racing chat forums over the perceived leniency/severity of the punishment.
Many commentators have drawn comparisons with a 90-day ban Muzi Yeni got for trying to hold back another jockey with his hand in a close finish. Another comparison is with the recent Grant van Niekerk case, which is complicated and not worth unpacking in this context.
Issues on which opinions are not divided are that the matter took a ridiculously long time to conclude and the opaqueness of the process.
The race video was shown on prime-time news broadcasts internationally and the racing world’s eyes were on SA, so the case should have been dealt with a lot more quickly and decisively.
Lerena and Gates reportedly discussed what happened and agreed to “move on”.
Lerena subsequently launched a successful campaign to win the championship for a second time in his career, coming from well behind his closest rivals in the final months of the season.
