Brian Hughes believes he and eight fellow jumps jockeys were unfairly punished for failing to pull up during a race that was declared void at Wetherby.
The nine riders failed in their appeals against 10-day suspensions in the race at the West Yorkshire track on October 12, with 16-times champion Tony McCoy and leading riders Graham Lee, Paddy Brennan and Denis O'Regan also among those found guilty of failing to stop after a yellow flag was shown due to a stricken horse on the course.
The British Horseracing Authority disciplinary panel upheld the bans (October 26-November 4) at an appeal hearing in London on Wednesday.
"I'm obviously disappointed. Myself and the other eight lads are getting penalised for, let's be frank, something that was the groundstaff's fault," Hughes, who won the voided race aboard Cunning Clarets, told Racing UK.
"The fellow (head groundsman Ian Ward) thought he was doing the right thing and he had the yellow flag, but he didn't have the right flag up because there was no obstruction. It came out in the Press that there was no contact between the clerk of the course and the head groundsman that day and we're being punished and we're the bad people.
"We're not going to be able to earn for 10 days and it's good racing. Us northern jockeys are missing six northern meetings, which is a lot. The rules say the yellow flag means stop, but they also say you should only have one coloured flag.
"Clearly, there was a lot of confusion at Wetherby and we could see in the distance the two chequered flags. The hurdle wasn't dolled off, so we continued. There was no-one's safety at risk and the stricken horse wasn't even on the racing line.
"Wetherby are basically at fault here because we are getting punished for a mistake that they made.
"We were told yesterday that it was orders from London that gave us the ban, so they obviously don't think much of the local stewards. We feel very hard done-by, but, at the end of the day, we've got to take it on the chin and go on."
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