Tahlia Hope suspended for overweight ride

Apprentice Tahlia Hope has been suspended after weighing in overweight on a second placegetter at Ballarat.

Hope rode Proud Wolf in the City Of Ballarat Tonks Plate on Saturday with the gelding beaten a long neck by Got The Goss.

Weighing out at 52.4kg, Hope returned 53.2kg, more than the half-kilogram allowed under the rules, incurring a two-week ban.

Her father Shannon, co-trainer of Proud Wolf, changed the girth and added a girth cover on the gelding when saddling for the race which formed part of the weight discrepancy.

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The jockey told stewards she had also had two sips of water after weighing out.

“My sips are pretty big,” Hope said.

In handing down the penalty, Racing Victoria steward Cory Waller said the long neck margin could have been impacted by the extra weight.

Her suspension begins after she rides at Kilmore on Sunday and she can return at Bairnsdale on December 11.

Shannon Hope was fined $500 for changing the girth without the permission of stewards.