McDougall cleared over Warwick Farm drift

Apprentice jockey Blaike McDougall has been cleared of any wrongdoing after stewards found there were no integrity issues on a race in which his mount was narrowly beaten.

McDougall was grilled by Racing NSW stewards over the vigour of his ride on Arise Augustus after the horse was beaten by a nose at Warwick Farm on September 14.

The horse drifted from $4.60 to $14 on Betfair before the race but an investigation into betting patterns showed nothing untoward.

“From a betting point of view there was no integrity issue,” Racing NSW betting steward Leigh Dalton said.

Dalton said there was a limited amount of money involved in the drift and the people who laid the horse did not concern them.

Stewards had questioned McDougall’s over his ride from the 500m mark, in particular his lack of whip use in the closing stages.

“It turned out to be a very poor ride,” McDougall said.

Steward Ray Livingstone told McDougall he probably should have changed hands with the whip and needed to give more precise evidence in inquiries.