"I feel victimised" says Jason Watson after getting seven-day ban

Jason Watson has told racingtv.com he will appeal the seven-day ban he received at Nottingham on Tuesday for his ride on a two-year-old debutant who lost all chance when wayward at the start.

Noisy Night, a two-year-old trained by Roger Charlton, attracted some market support for the six-furlong sprint that opened the card and was sent off at 13-2. However, he veered violently left when the stalls opened and Mike Cattermole, the commentator, observed the youngster “had lost the plot”.

By the time Noisy Night consented to race on an even keel, he was about a dozen lengths behind the other seven runners. At halfway, it was evident he had an impossible task.

Watson let Noisy Night come home in his own time but did manage to pass one rival. His mount was beaten almost 26 lengths in a race won by Unspoken.

The stewards took a dim view of his ride and suspended him for seven days for “failing to take all reasonable and permissible measures to ensure Noisy Night was given full opportunity to obtain the best possible placing.”

Adding a further explanation as to their actions, the stewards statement added “after being very slowly away he had failed to ride the colt in such a way that he could be seen to ask Noisy Night for any form of effort or encouragement to get competitive or improve its position in the final stages of the race”.

Watson was interviewed and shown recordings of the race. The 21-year-old, champion apprentice in 2018, told the stewards that his instructions were to “jump out and ride the race as he found it, getting the colt to finish in the best possible position”.

He explained that Noisy Night was slowly away and ducked left, losing a significant amount of ground and was never travelling thereafter, a fact he had reported at Scales, and in his opinion had lost any chance of being competitive as a result.

Watson further stated that at no point in the race did he place the colt under any form of pressure to improve, and again reiterated his position that there was no point in trying to recover ground from such an uncompetitive position.

When contacted by racingtv.com, Watson said his intention was definitely to appeal the ban. He later tweeted: "I feel very victimised and unsure of the true intentions of the BHA. Today I done what any horseman would have done in the circumstances having been onboard a first time out 2 year old. My priority lies with the horses welfare."

Charlton, who not at the course, was interviewed by telephone by the Nottingham stewards. He stated that from the limited footage he had seen on TV, he was satisfied with the ride considering what the colt had done at the start.

Stewards at Newbury on Saturday held an enquiry into the running and riding of the Watson-ridden Honky Tonk Man, another Charlton-trained two-year-old making his debut, who finished last of six runners. The rider was interviewed and his explanation for the run was noted.