Robbie Dunne’s appeal hearing has been widely criticized and called “inappropriate and outdated”.
On Wednesday, despite an independent panel formally rejecting his appeal, Jockey’s ban from racing for threatening and harassing comrade Bryoni Frost was reduced from 18 months to 10 months.
Despite agreeing, Dunne was found guilty of violating Rule J19 – dishonesty, fair conduct and damaging the good reputation of the race – Appellate Board Chair Anthony Bosswood QC found a breach of the rules instead of the previous four, covering all offenses.
The hearing, which took place virtually last week, has been scrutinized, with several journalists present questioning its tone as well as the overall appeal system.
In an article for Sporting Life, Lydia Hislop described many aspects of hearing behavior as “insensitive, inappropriate and outdated”, while Racing Post columnist Lee Motorshed called it a “disappointing matter” and feared that the British Racing Board was not suitable for appeal purposes. .
The British Horsepower Authority (BHA) will this week issue a full written reason for rejecting the right appeal and reducing the ban.
Discussing the racing controversy, Josh Apiafi of Sky Sports Racing said: “One of the things Racing is trying to do is to make it more representative of society and open to all, and yet some of the words that come out here are from Downton Abbey. Some, such as an old boys club.
“I think we took a significant step last week.
“You are talking about the debauchery of a woman and there were nine men in the house [at the appeal hearing].
“I hope the process can change so that it’s much more open to the people on that panel. I don’t believe it’s representative of the people in our sport right now.”
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Racing debate host Shawn Boyce added: “My concern is how we got there because the appeal failed and yet they dropped one-third from the penalty.
“The problem with me is that the main disciplinary panel has gone through all of this.
Robbie Dan made an apology but it was one of them: ‘I’m sorry it made you feel that way, it wasn’t my intention’ but of course the disciplinary panel found that it was actually his intention Not sure.
“These processes are important, and people’s livelihoods are at stake, so if things go wrong it must be challenged, but in the face of it, it’s hard to see how they ended up where they started.” Up
“I was hoping that Dunne’s team would come up with a new witness or a new argument and I waited all day but didn’t see it.”
