KEY POINTS:
Leading Kiwi jockey Lisa Cropp has won her appeal against a three-month suspension and will be back riding today.
Cropp will be riding at Tauranga.
Before boarding a plane back to New Zealand she said: "I'm relieved. Now I can go back to ride tomorrow.
"It's good to have that off my shoulders. I'll be back racing tomorrow."
Cropp had been suspended for three months by Queensland Racing (QR) stipendiary stewards for not riding out her mount Lilakyn to the finish of A$300,000 ($337,000) Brisbane Cup at Eagle Farm on June 11.
Cropp raised her arm in a victory salute and it was alleged the action was prior to the finish. Lilakyn was beaten a nose - racing's barest margin - into second place.
The difference in prizemoney was A$132,000. The winner received A$192,000 and second was worth A$60,000.
An appeal against the suspension was heard in Brisbane yesterday and Cropp said last night the suspension was dropped because of inconclusive evidence.
The appeal is one of the best results Cropp has had recently.
She tested positive to the drug methamphetamine at a Waikato race meeting two years ago and the matter remains before racing authorities and New Zealand courts.
Earlier this year Cropp rode Mettre En Jeu to second place in the New Zealand Derby at Ellerslie and afterwards alleged winning rider Vinny Colgan handed a "silver device" to fellow rider Noel Harris after the race.
The inference was the silver device could have been an illegal electrical item, supposedly used to shock horses into running faster.
Colgan and Harris were cleared of any wrongdoing and no action was taken against Cropp.
Cropp, 32, has won the New Zealand jockeys' premiership in the last two seasons and leads this season's premiership with 130 wins. The season finishes on July 31 and her nearest rival is Opie Bosson who has 116 wins.
When she won the 2004-05 premiership she rode 197 winners, which is a record number of wins for a New Zealand jockey in a season.
The matter of Cropp's suspension in Brisbane is, however, not over.
Later last night it was reported by Australian Associated Press that QR chief stipendiary steward Reid Sanders had lodged an appeal against the decision.
Sanders was reluctant to comment on the hearing, which, in an unprecedented move, was closed to the news media.
- NZPA
