IRISH AMATEUR JOCKEY Declan Queally said “all is forgiven” as he and top English rider Nico de Boinville looked to move on from Wednesday’s row at the Cheltenham Festival.
The jockeys briefly appeared together during ITV’s coverage on Thursday and shook hands in a truce which appeared to be brokered by retired Irish jockey Davy Russell.
Queally made a complaint to stewards in the aftermath of the Turners Novices’ Hurdle, the opening race on Wednesday’s card. While the British Horseracing Authority said their investigation is ongoing and not expected to be concluded this week, Queally said on Thursday that the matter is “all sorted” as far as he is concerned.
"All is forgiven" 🤝
Declan Queally & Nico de Boinville patch things up after yesterday's disagreement 💪 pic.twitter.com/5UJB7YF3u7
“Just a heat of the moment battle, all is forgiven, and best of luck to Nico in the future,” he said.
De Boinville added: “I appreciate Declan, and wish him the best, and big thanks to Davy Russell for sorting this out.”
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Wednesday’s opening race went off four minutes late following a prolonged effort to get the 21 runners into a suitable order, with the two jockeys exchanging words as they tried to secure a position close to the tapes.
De Boinville had earlier denied allegations of racial abuse. Speaking on BBC Radio Five Live, he said: “It’s an ongoing investigation, the stewards are gathering all the evidence they can from the video footage.
“From my point of view, I deny all of the allegations against me. I can categorically say that there weren’t any racial slurs or anything like that. Let’s let it play out.”
Speaking at Cheltenham on Thursday, Queally said: “The BHA are dealing with it, so we’ll go from there.
“It was heated down there, we’re sportspeople and as was said this morning, tempers can rise. But we’ll see what the BHA say.
“I told the BHA what was said so that’s all I’m saying. It was very heated and I could see how competitive it was. There was a lot of swearing.
“I was where Nico wanted to be and unfortunately what happened, happened. Everyone has cooled down now, hopefully it can be resolved and we can put the matter behind us.
“I can appreciate how much pressure everyone is under, things can be said that are not meant to be said, I can appreciate that.”
- ‘A silly thing’ -
Both riders commented on television directly after the race and Queally added: “Everyone would like to put this stupid matter behind them. If I hadn’t been caught after the race when when blood was still up there might have been nothing about it.
“Nico’s blood was up at the start and probably shouldn’t have said what he said but I think people should enjoy the Cheltenham Festival rather than the media swarming around me, it’s a silly thing.
“There was effing and blinding, there was a racial comment thrown, I’ve told the BHA but I’d prefer to enjoy my day.”
The BHA announced plans for a full review of the Festival starts once the meeting has finished and Queally feels it is an issue that needs to be addressed, adding: “The starts are a mess across the board and the whole thing got heated yesterday.”
Queally was one of four jockeys along with Jack Kennedy, Danny Gilligan and Darragh O’Keeffe to receive a ban as they “had not approached the tape at a walk or a jig-jog thereby causing a false start, resulting in a standing start.
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'All is forgiven': Queally and De Boinville shake hands and look to move on from Cheltenham row
IRISH AMATEUR JOCKEY Declan Queally said “all is forgiven” as he and top English rider Nico de Boinville looked to move on from Wednesday’s row at the Cheltenham Festival.
The jockeys briefly appeared together during ITV’s coverage on Thursday and shook hands in a truce which appeared to be brokered by retired Irish jockey Davy Russell.
Queally made a complaint to stewards in the aftermath of the Turners Novices’ Hurdle, the opening race on Wednesday’s card. While the British Horseracing Authority said their investigation is ongoing and not expected to be concluded this week, Queally said on Thursday that the matter is “all sorted” as far as he is concerned.
“Just a heat of the moment battle, all is forgiven, and best of luck to Nico in the future,” he said.
De Boinville added: “I appreciate Declan, and wish him the best, and big thanks to Davy Russell for sorting this out.”
- Row -
Wednesday’s opening race went off four minutes late following a prolonged effort to get the 21 runners into a suitable order, with the two jockeys exchanging words as they tried to secure a position close to the tapes.
De Boinville had earlier denied allegations of racial abuse. Speaking on BBC Radio Five Live, he said: “It’s an ongoing investigation, the stewards are gathering all the evidence they can from the video footage.
Speaking at Cheltenham on Thursday, Queally said: “The BHA are dealing with it, so we’ll go from there.
“It was heated down there, we’re sportspeople and as was said this morning, tempers can rise. But we’ll see what the BHA say.
“I told the BHA what was said so that’s all I’m saying. It was very heated and I could see how competitive it was. There was a lot of swearing.
“I was where Nico wanted to be and unfortunately what happened, happened. Everyone has cooled down now, hopefully it can be resolved and we can put the matter behind us.
- ‘A silly thing’ -
Both riders commented on television directly after the race and Queally added: “Everyone would like to put this stupid matter behind them. If I hadn’t been caught after the race when when blood was still up there might have been nothing about it.
“Nico’s blood was up at the start and probably shouldn’t have said what he said but I think people should enjoy the Cheltenham Festival rather than the media swarming around me, it’s a silly thing.
“There was effing and blinding, there was a racial comment thrown, I’ve told the BHA but I’d prefer to enjoy my day.”
The BHA announced plans for a full review of the Festival starts once the meeting has finished and Queally feels it is an issue that needs to be addressed, adding: “The starts are a mess across the board and the whole thing got heated yesterday.”
Queally was one of four jockeys along with Jack Kennedy, Danny Gilligan and Darragh O’Keeffe to receive a ban as they “had not approached the tape at a walk or a jig-jog thereby causing a false start, resulting in a standing start.
– Additional reporting by Press Association
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