Ben Allen suspended in New Zealand

Leading Melbourne apprentice Ben Allen has had an eventful trip to New Zealand, riding a winner at Ellerslie before being suspended for causing interference on Civil Disobedience in the Group One NZ Derby.

Allen rode Mongolian Marshal to victory in a support race on Saturday but was outed for careless riding early in the feature race on the Darren Weir-trained Civil Disobedience who finished seventh, four lengths from the winner Vin De Dance.

He pleaded guilty to allowing Civil Disobedience to shift in near the 1850m which set off a chain reaction with several horses hampered.

Allen will be out from March 11 to 24 inclusive.

The Baker/Forsman-trained Vin De Dance is owned by Melbourne businessman Terry Henderson’s OTI Syndicate and will now be prepared for the Australian Derby.

Baker and Forsman won the 2017 Australian Derby with Jon Snow while Baker also has wins with Nom Du Jeu (2008) It’s A Dundeel (2013) and Mongolian Khan (2015) as a solo trainer.