Champion jockey Jamie Kah is set to enter a plea of not guilty at the Victorian Racing Tribunal on Thursday to a charge relating to her performance in the Group 3 McNeil Stakes last month.
Kah has been charged with a serious offence by Racing Victoria stewards following a lengthy investigation into a race at Caulfield earlier this year.
The 28-year-old was accused of not wanting to get the best result during a race last month.
Racing Victoria stewards accused Kah of failing to take ‘all reasonable and lawful steps’ with the horse Let’sfacethemusic ‘to win or achieve the best possible position in the field.’
The rule states: ‘A rider must take all reasonable and legal measures during the race to ensure that his horse has every opportunity to win or to achieve the best possible position in the field.’
Stewards watched her ride aboard Let’sfacethemusic in the Group 3 McNeil Stakes at Caulfield on August 31 and noticed she failed to accelerate through a gap.
During a hearing at VRT on Thursday, Kah was represented by lawyer Matthew Stirling, together with the stewards.
Jamie Kah has been charged with a serious offence by Racing Victoria stewards
Stirling suggested that Kah’s defence should focus on the challenging windy conditions on race day, and on the particular racing behaviour of Let’sfacethemusic, describing the horse as ‘a bit of a gag’ with a tendency to ‘lock his jaws’.
“That means the jockey can steer one way and the horse will go the other way,” Stirling said.
‘You can see this happening exactly in this race footage on the stewards footage at the 900m mark. The horse turns in as Mrs Kah goes the other way.
‘On this day the conditions were extremely windy. The two horses at the front were constantly moving the ground… Ms Kah’s horse was also moving the ground.’
Stirling said Kah was not feeling well that day and that she also lacked confidence.
“Her instincts were telling her not to run, it wasn’t safe to run,” Stirling said.
‘In hindsight, because we know now, but only in hindsight, there were a couple of stages where the horses up front stayed true to their line and Mrs Kah’s stayed true to her line.
“It may have been a mistake, but that’s not what the rule is about… the rule requires serious accountability.
‘If they (stewards) can demonstrate an error of judgment, that is not enough to uphold the charge.’
Kah was accused of not fighting for the best result last month
The ‘golden girl’ jockey admitted she had not had a great race.
“I just didn’t feel like I was driving well,” Kah explained to the stewards.
‘I saw (the gap) disappear in front of me and I don’t know, I didn’t feel comfortable running.
“I don’t do runs that aren’t there and at that point in the race I didn’t feel like there was a long enough run to do it.”
The charges follow a horror run for Kah, which began with a shocking fall at Flemington in March that left her with serious brain injuries.
When Kah woke up from a five-day induced coma, she didn’t know who she was and had to Google her name to find some information about herself.
The injury kept her out of racing for five months and she wasn’t able to get back in the saddle until August.
Kah also became embroiled in a “white powder” controversy after photos surfaced on social media in June showing her collecting a line of the mysterious substance.
The story broke just a day after she announced her return to racing.
The emergence of the controversial footage cast a shadow over Kah’s long-awaited return to horse racing.
Kah suffered a shocking fall at Flemington in March 2023, leaving her with a brain injury
Stewards initially charged her and another woman over the photos, alleging they had breached a rule that states that “a person shall not engage in conduct which is prejudicial to the image, interests, integrity or welfare of racing, whether that conduct occurs on a racecourse or elsewhere.”
“I am working hard to get back to doing what I love most, which is being a passionate and successful jockey,” Kah said afterwards.
“I continue to focus on my physical and mental health and on making a full recovery so I can get back to racing and be the best person I can be.”
Kah was later acquitted of all wrongdoing in the white powder scandal and vowed to focus on racing and being happy thereafter.
“It has been the most challenging and testing year ever, but I am so relieved to be able to put it behind me now and focus on racing and being happy,” Kah told RaceNet.