OUT FOR SIX MONTHS

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 953, 22 April 1930, Page 12

OUT FOR SIX MONTHS

THE HANNIBAL INCIDENT “Suspension for six months for wilfully supplying a false statement in connection with the loss of | an iron while riding Hannibal in the Nelson Handicap. ’’ i That was the punishment meted out t to the well-known light-weight jockey. H. Wiggins, as the result of a stewards' meeting following on the running of the first event at the Auckland Racing Club’s fixture at Ellerslie yesterday. The sentence was imposed in accordance with clause H, Rule 1.. part 32, of the Rules of Racing, which reads: ”If in this, or any other country, any person wilfully and corruptly supply any false declaration, respecting any matter connected with racing, he shall be deemed guilty of corrupt practice; and he, and any horse in connection with the entering, training or running of which the corrupt practice shall have occurred, may be disqualified or suspended by the stewards or committee of any club, or by any district committee, or by the judges of the Conference, for any specified period, or for life.'* In the big field which ran in the Eden Handicap on the opening day Hannibal was always prominent and went such a fine race that in order to secure Wiggins for the horse’s engagement in the Nelson Handicap the connections were not averse to putting up a few pounds overweight, Hannibal going out with 51b in excess of his original handicap on the minimum. The inquiry was instituted through Hannibal appearing to be under restraint in the concluding stages of the

race. Running to the five furlongs Hannibal was right in behind the leaders, but he met trouble here, and from this out Wiggins made attempts to regain control of the horse. That Hannibal met with undue interference was obvious when he returned to the enclosure for, from the shoulder to the hip, a white mark was shown where he came in contact with the fence, while the • jockey’s boot, too, bore signs of the same collision. It is understood that Wiggins intends to lodge an appeal against the stewards’ decision.