After riding half the program at Rosehill on Saturday, stewards halted Hugh Bowman’s momentum when slapping the champion jockey with a careless riding suspension.
Stewards found Bowman guilty of careless riding in the McGrath Estate Agents Benchmark 72 Handicap (1400m) where he partnered Wudang Mountain to victory.
Bowman was found to have “forced a run” in the early part of the straight before stewards deemed he “continued to ride and shift out” causing Tommy Berry’s mount Jadeer to be checked. Stewards conceded Sam Clipperton’s mount Let’s Make It Rain, which was on the outside of Jadeer shifted in “ever so slightly”.
Bowman admitted to angling his mount into a run between River Wild and Jadeer but said his actions had no bearing on the eventual interference suffered by Jadeer.
“I understand your findings but I’m not sure if I agree with them,” he told stewards.
“In the first part, I agree, I force a run but there’s no interference caused.
“Regardless of my actions Tommy Berry would have run out of room.”
Stewards disagreed with Bowman’s account of events and handed down a guilty finding before issuing a five meeting suspension starting after next Saturday’s Chelmsford Stakes meeting.
The suspension rules Bowman out of the Golden Rose meeting. He will return to the saddle at Newcastle for Newcastle Cup day on September 18.
Bowman was also sent home $600 lighter by stewards for his whip use aboard another of his winner’s Berrimilla in the Schweppes Benchmark 75 Handicap (1400m).