Orville Clarke, Freelance Writer

( L - R ) Allen, Nunes

Jockeys Larris Allen and Andrew Nunes, both of whom were engaged in a cavalier horseback fight in the 13th and final race at Caymanas Park on Saturday, November 10, were heavily penalised by the Jamaica Racing Commission (JRC) yesterday.

Allen, a top-10 jockey who is popularly called 'Amigo', was slapped with a 35-raceday suspension, while the full commission was less severe on Nunes, giving him 25 racedays,

Allen rode PRINCESS ZANAI and Nunes PRINCESS LATOYA in the race in question.

As a result of their whipping match from early in the straight, their horses finished last and second to last in a 14-strong field, victory going to the highly fancied ACCOMPONG on the 'Superday' programme.

Both jockeys were summoned by the operations stewards to the Winchester Road offices of the Jamaica Racing Commission Tuesday, November 20 to explain their conduct during the race.

However, the stewards felt the matter was so serious that they referred the case to commissioners of the JRC for appropriate action.

Came down hard on jockeys

After viewing the patrol film of the race and hearing submissions from operations steward Eustace Williams, as well as the jockeys yesterday afternoon, the full commission, headed by JRC chairman Rudolph Muir, came down hard on both riders.

Allen, who has so far ridden 27 winners this season to hold down 10th position in the jockeys' standings, will be out of action until May of next year, while Nunes who is yet to ride a winner this season will be out until March.

Reacting to his suspension yesterday afternoon, Allen told Racing Along that it could have been worse.

"It looked bad on the film and we both apologised to the commission for our behaviour. We could have been suspended for a year. It's just one of those things which happened in the heat of the moment. The good thing is that we were not fined by the commission. Looking back, it just never should have happened. We are brethrens and I think we will both learn from this bad experience."

It was agreed that both jockeys could exercise horses while on suspension. With both riders having been stood down from Saturday, November 24, their suspensions will commence from that day.