JAMES HANNON could be forced to sit out almost all of the remainder of the point-to-point season after he was handed a suspension of 21 point-to-point race days at a sitting of the referrals committee last week.

They met to consider a referral into an incident which took place after the final race in Kildorrery on February 19th, where the reigning southern champion was involved in an altercation with another rider after crossing the line.

Hannon has appealed the suspension, which if unsuccessful would result in him being unable to ride in a point-to-point for the next ten weekends, only returning for the final two days of the season on May 20th and 21st.

The appeals body will adjudicate on the merits of the suspension, so without delving further into the specifics of the case, it does have to be argued that the initial punishment that was handed out by the referrals committee is another example of where the current penalty system is not fit for purpose in the specific context of point-to-pointing.

A 21-day suspension for a professional jockey riding under rules that also kicks in this Saturday would have the rider back for the Punchestown Festival, due to the number of race days taking place each week.

Greater impact

For a point-to-point rider, with just two race days across most weeks of the season, such a punishment has a disproportionately greater impact.

The same argument has already been made in relation to suspensions for whip offences that are currently being handed out.

A four-day suspension in the autumn term could rule a rider out of pointing action for a month, yet the same ban for a professional jockey would likely last little over a week.

It is not just the unfairness within a like-for-like comparison that leads to harsher penalties for point-to-point riders, but there is also an inequality in how point-to-point suspension dates are set.

For example, if you have two point-to-point riders, rider A and rider B and for arguments sake, we will say that both picked-up a one-day suspension last weekend.

Rider A is northern based and received a one-day suspension in Tyrella last Saturday, while rider B, who is based in the south, picked-up the exact same suspension in Castlelands a day later. Both are therefore ruled out of today’s fixture in Kirkistown, however as rider B is based 100s of miles away from the northern circuit and rarely if ever rides on a Saturday, that rider in effect escapes any punishment.

That cannot be accepted as a satisfactory situation within the penalty structure and this all does not serve riders or the sport well.