Racing: Scriven ousted after whip swap

Shane Scriven (centre) returns the whip he 'borrowed' from apprentice Ben Looker on passing the winning post at Ipswich. Photo / Supplied

Top-class Brisbane jockey Shane Scriven believes his career will be ended by the five-month ban he received on Thursday for the sensational whip-stealing incident at Ipswich races last week.

"I've made three comebacks and lost 25kg each time and I don't think I can do it again," said the 45-year-old.

Scriven was suspended for grabbing the whip of fellow jockey, 20-year-old apprentice Ben Looker 100m from the finish of the Ipswich race.

Looker had accidently knocked Scriven's whip from his hand earlier in the home straight.

Despite the whip-snatch, Scriven's mount Requested was beaten by a nose with Looker's horse close up third.

At Thursday's hearing, Looker was suspended for two weeks for not reporting the incident.

Scriven has appealed against the severity of his sentence, which will be heard on Monday.

Scriven is regarded as among the best Queensland riders in recent times and rode at the Derby carnival at Ellerslie last month, winning the New Zealand Herald Handicap on Prime Hit.

Whip stealing is almost unheard of, but not unique.

It's something Lester Piggott made famous around 30 years ago.

Racing at Deauville one day Piggot dropped his whip mid-race.

With around 300m left he pushed his mount forward to sit alongside the leader, ridden by Frenchman Alain Lequeux.

Piggot reached across and snatched the Frenchman's whip.

Unlike Scriven, Piggott went on to win the race with the Frenchman second. Legend has it that on pulling up Piggott, as fierce a competitor as ever sat in a raceday saddle, offered Lequeux back his whip.

When asked what the Frenchman said, Piggott replied in that mumble of his caused by a hearing defect and speech impediment: "He didn't wannit".

Piggott didn't take prisoners when it came to winning. Nor did he have time for convention and authority.

The Queen's racing manager Lord Carnarvon once observed: "The best jockey ever, Gordon Richards was a better rider, but Piggott was always one step ahead. He could come home in sixth, but see another horse in the pack and work out where and why it went wrong.

"He would go to the owner and say, 'Let me ride your horse at Beverley on Tuesday and it'll win'. And it would."

With respect to the Lord, when you are an owner or a punter "the best"' jockey is the one who wins the most often.

Horse racing is not a game in which you never say never.

American Hall Of Fame trainer Charlie Whittingham, a tough ex-marine corps sergeant, once said: "Before you say a horse couldnot do something wait until it's dead.

"Then wait another two years."

But like Wayne Gretzky will always be the best to ever play ice hockey, there will never be another Lester Piggott.

Consider this, he rode his first winner aged 12 in 1948. At age 54, after a year in prison for tax evasion - which he could have settled make no mistake - he went back to riding and within weeks won the coveted Breeders Cup Mile in California.

In his most magical moments you would swear he could have got home first on a broomstick.

* For the record, Piggott didn't rate (Sir) Gordon Richards the best he rode against.

He reserved that honour for the great Australian Scobie Breasley.