Domeyer wins on Victorious Jay – in the race where Greg Cheyne fell
Aldo Domeyer, riding the crest of a wave, has hit rough water and is sitting out a ten-day suspension for his part in the fall of Greg Cheyne at Kenilworth nine days ago, writes Michael Clower.
The stipes ruled that he “failed to take sufficient corrective measures and was a source of interference” when riding the winner Victorious Jay.
It is not easy keeping half a tonne of horseflesh straight at nearly 60kph, particularly when it is beginning to tire, you weigh only 55kg and you are perched on little more than a postage stamp – but Domeyer is taking the ban on the chin.
He said: “I didn’t have much control of my horse, he is very strong and he tends to do that (hang) but neither I nor MJ Byleveld on Milton (in the lead) was aware that Greg was where he was. However I understand where the stipes are coming from – somebody gets hurt so they have to act – and I am taking the suspension immediately.”
He signed off with an Andre Nel double on Saturday on Straat-Kind and Skip A Beat and then won the finale on River Cam, the first winner in his new role as number one to Candice Bass-Robinson. “It’s nice to be promoted from making tea to being stable jock,” he commented drily – a reference to his early days as a teenage wannabee doing anything at the Bass yard just to be involved.
Cheyne, who missed three of Alan Greeff’s five Fairview winners on Friday, also sat out Saturday explaining: “I never made the improvement I was hoping for during the week.”
www.goldcircle.co.za
