After nearly three seasons riding successfully in Singapore, J&B Met-winning jockey JP van der Merwe and his wife Abbi are back on African soil and are putting the traumatic experience of a harsh penalty imposed by the Singapore Turf Club behind them.
JP rode the horse Fast And Fearless to second place in the seventh race at Kranji on 4 September. On the day, he could have had no idea of the events that were to follow.
Here is the replay:
He was called in the following morning by the Stipes and handed an immediate suspension.
The Port Elizabeth-born SA Jockey Academy graduate was subsequently found guilty and handed a year suspension. The van der Merwe’s contented life in Singapore was turned upside down.
In an appeal hearing conducted on Wednesday, JP’s charge was reduced to the lesser one of incompetent riding, and his suspension reduced to six months.
That means he will be back in the saddle in South Africa in the first week of March 2022.
Leading South African racing attorney Robert Bloomberg, who conducted the defence and prepared JP’s Grounds Of Appeal, called it a ‘bittersweet victory’.
“JP was convicted under the Malayan Racing Authority Rule 44(8) of not taking all reasonable and permissible measures throughout a race to ensure that his horse is given a full opportunity of winning or of obtaining the best possible placing – known to us as the ‘pulling-up’ Rule. This Rule carries a mandatory disqualification of not less than a year. Further, in the case of a visiting jockey, his licence is cancelled, and he is not eligible to apply for a jockey licence until the expiration of 3 years from the expiry of the period of disqualification – therefore in this case 4 years!” said Bloomberg.
Robert Bloomberg – secured a vastly better outcome for the SA jockey
The legal eagle explained that based on the comprehensive Grounds of Appeal, and assisted by an affidavit from the erudite and highly competent expert witness on sectional timing data, Mark van Deventer, the defence conclusively proved that JP could not have won the race.
“As he finished runner-up, we submitted that the Panel of Stewards had failed to prove that he could have bettered this position, and that consequently our Appeal against this charge must be upheld – which it was.”
Bloomberg elaborated further and said that he had stated in the Grounds Of Appeal that if the STC Stewards believed that there had been a riding indiscretion, that JP had then been charged under the incorrect rule and that the Appeal Panel had the discretion to implement a lesser charge and penalty, whilst taking cognizance of his time already served.
“This they duly did on Wednesday at the Appeal Hearing by substituting an offence of incompetent riding under a less onerous Rule with a resultant penalty imposed of 6 months, from the date of JP’s disqualification being 8 September 2021. They also refunded 50% of his deposit – which bemuses me as to why this was not in its entirety,” he said.
In his characteristic pull-no-punches style, Bloomberg gave the Singapore Turf Club something to contemplate in their processes going forward.
“We were advised of the outcome of the Appeal by the same chief stipe, John Davidson, whom I must add, and despite having three other stipes in attendance with him at the Inquiry, ran the entire proceedings on his own as presenter/prosecutor, judge, jury and executioner. And then he headed the Panel of Stewards that refused JP a stay of execution of the disqualification imposed pending the outcome of the Appeal that he was also present at and participated in, albeit whilst obviously not on the Panel itself.”
As regards the logistical challenges of the attendance at the Singapore hearing by the defence team, Bloomberg says that Davidson mentions ‘disingenuously’ in his letter post the Appeal hearing that JP and he ‘declined to appear at the Appeal Hearing’, as if this was an aggravating factor.
JP van der Merwe – rough ordeal (Pic – STC)
“This is disingenuous in the extreme. After receipt of our Grounds Of Appeal, the attorney for the Malayan Racing Authority, Michael Palmer, informed me in writing that in their opinion and in terms of the Legal Profession Act, I was an ‘unauthorised person’ as defined, as I was not on the roll, nor had a practising certificate in Singapore, and that if I didn’t apply for a work permit, would be committing a criminal offence in terms of their law.”
Bloomberg says that his interpretation of the Act was that this only applied to a court of law and that this was a domestic tribunal and he duly told them as such.
“They then recanted their stance, but did so in a manner that left the interpretation of their law up to me, which I was not prepared to risk. Neither I, nor any SA-based legal person I know, is qualified to pronounce an opinion on Singapore law – it’s how they interpret their own law – and I was not prepared for salient reasons to risk being criminally prosecuted. As I was now precluded from appearing for JP, we took the considered step of not prejudicing and further traumatising him by allowing him to be thrown into the lion’s den on his own.”
Bloomberg concludes that, whilst read in isolation, the punishment is very harsh, it is a very big win considering where they were.
“JP is now only suspended and not disqualified and is at least free to ride work and doesn’t have a major infraction as an indelible stain on his record. Having said that, I pose the question to all, that if he couldn’t have won the race and he finished second, then where is the ‘incompetent riding’? I must also point out that the horse in question ran in two subsequent races and was ridden in the manner that the Chief Stipe believed the horse ought to be ridden, and he finished way downfield on both occasions. The Appeal Panel agreed with our contentions regarding the charge JP was convicted under but have endeavoured in my professional opinion to ‘save face’ for the Singapore Turf Club, by issuing a punitive suspension nonetheless that doesn’t justify the ‘crime’ – if indeed there was one in the first place!”
Abbi & JP – back and determined to move forward positively
Speaking to the Sporting Post on Thursday afternoon, JP and Abbi were clearly happy and relieved to get their lives back.
“We are really happy to be back home. We are relieved with the outcome because he wasn’t guilty of what he was accused of. We must extend a major word of thanks to Mr Robert Bloomberg and Mr Mark van Deventer who have assisted us through this process.They’ve helped us a lot,” said Abbi emotionally.
She said that ‘it’s been a tough time’ but that their goal was now to move forward and focus on the next few steps into the future.
“JP has been keeping fit and it will help to get back riding work. If we could please just use this opportunity to also thank all the people who reached out to us and had our backs throughout it all. There were a lot of people in South Africa that were upset when the news broke, and to us it meant a lot that we had so many people behind us. He can start riding the first week of March and we are looking forward to it! It’s his passion and will always be his passion.”
