3 minute read

A COVID scare forced a number of jockeys out of the Boxing Day meeting at Caulfield.

The Boxing Day meeting at Caulfield was thrown into a disarray with a number jockeys being stood down after being exposed to COVID. 

Racing Victoria's deputy chief steward Rob Montgomery, in charge of Sunday's meeting at Caulfield, said the riders had been stood down through either direct or indirect contact with a COVID case. 

Chloe Azzopardi, Laura Lafferty, Celine Gaudray, Ethan Brown, Fred Kersley, Matthew Cartwright, Damian Lane, Jordan Childs, Zac Spain, Michael Dee and Damien Thornton were all removed from their mounts at Caulfield. 

The secondary meeting at Geelong was also affected. 

Montgomery said there had been co-operation between the jockeys and trainers for racing to go ahead on Boxing Day. 

"We've bent the rules a little where an apprentice can only be replaced by an apprentice, but (on this occasion) we've had apprentices replaced by a jockey and vice versa," Montgomery told racing.com. 

Mongomery said whether the standowns affect further meetings will not be determined until Monday. 

"We'll be advised by our CMO (Chief Medical Officer) Gary Zimmerman," Montgomery said. 

"There's riders undertaking testing tomorrow, so we'll see how it pans out from there." 

Victorian Jockeys' Association Chief Executive Matt Hyland said the DHHS had notified a positive case had attended jockey Chris Caserta's funeral last Monday. 

"Subsequently, a lot of those riders also attended a function on Thursday night," Hyland told RSN. 

"What we do know is that one of the riders that has tested positive didn't attend Chris Caserta's funeral, so for that reason, all those riders that attended that function on Thursday night are stood down, pending another test, which will probably take place tomorrow."