Perhaps Hugh Bowman should resort to the sort of defense recently used by a rugby player to avoid prosecution for his role in chasing down a man and punching him in the head.
Bowman could simply say that if his suspensions are upheld and he is unavailable to ride Winx in the Group 2 Apollo Stakes, it could damage his career as a jockey.
Ludicrous as that sounds, a rugby player, as yet unidentified, has asked the Blenheim District Court of the New ZealandMinistry of Justice to let him off, because a successful prosecution and conviction could damage his rugby career.
The plea has worked on more than once occasion. Rugby players walk on water in New Zealand, but so far as we know, have yet to transform the water into wine.
We hope than Ben Stokes does not attempt a similar defense for a similar offense, because that would set a dangerous precedent for British cricket players.
Former Wellington Lions player Losi Filipo knocked a man unconscious and stomped on his head repeatedly. He was discharged without conviction, but the arresting constabulary protested the decision and Filipo was made to attend alcohol and violence counseling sessions.
George Moala of the Blues got off scot free for a 2015 incident after he was found guilty of assault with intent to injure during a late-night brawl that involved copious consumption of adult beverages.
Another Blues player, Tivita Li, managed to elude the long arm of justice when he had a drink-driving charge dismissed.
The lawyer for the anonymous rugby player in the recent incident, Rob Harrison, argued that if convicted, his client’s rugby club would not renew his contract.
There are other examples beyond Moala and Li, five at least, where the conclusion of the courts was that a conviction for a rugby player accused of a violent crime, “Would end any possibility of a rugby career.”
If our boss is reading this, we seek leniency should we in any way offend a rugby player, perhaps by not being able to run away fast enough. If our hands, rather than our heads, were to be injured in such an altercation, it is doubtful that we could have any kind or writing career.