Charlie Fellowes to appeal French Guineas result and ‘awful precedent’ after Shes Perfect demoted by stewards
FURIOUS Charlie Fellowes will lodge an appeal after Shes Perfect was robbed of the French 1,000 Guineas by the stewards.
The 18-1 shot was chucked out after drifting off-line around a furlong and a half out, with hot favourite Zarigana briefly knocked off her stride.
Fellowes’ filly held on by a nose under Kieran Shoemark but the stewards turned the result around in favour of Francis-Henri Graffard’s runner.
But replays showed jockey Mickael Barzalona dropped his whip after using it twice – and then slapped the horse down the neck 12 times on the run-in.
France has similar whip rules to Britain, with a limit of six and automatic disqualification is used nine times.
And Fellowes argues that Barzalona’s actions, combined with minimal contact in the straight, is more than enough grounds for an appeal.
He said: “We wanted to let the dust settle and take the emotion out of the situation and think with a clear head before making our decision.
“Firstly, the contact was minimal and it was a long way out, so we think Zarigana had enough time to get past if she was good enough.
“But more importantly we want clarification on the rules about the way he uses his stick twice, drops it then slaps her 12 times.
“It sets an awful precedent and cannot be right. If it’s allowed, what’s to stop jockeys using up their whip count, putting it down then slapping the horse? It’s a terrible look.
“I can’t understand how it can be deemed he didn’t break the rules. It wasn’t mentioned to us when we were invited into the stewards’ room on the day.
“I’m incredibly proud of Shes Perfect and Luther ran a brilliant race in the 2,000 Guineas to be fourth. We only have 40 horses so to have two run so well in Classics is incredible.
“I’m not sure of the timeframe but we have 48 hours to appeal and we will do so.”