Nico de Boinville has been accused of racially abusing a fellow jockey at the Cheltenham Festival after the pair were witnessed arguing ahead of the Turners Novices’ Hurdle by ITV cameras on Wednesday.
The footage showed De Boinville exchanging heated words with Declan Queally before the race during a chaotic opening of false starts and positional jostling.
De Boinville, who was riding Act Of Innocence, was seen shouting at Queally and calling for him to “get back” as he tried to position his own horse on the rail where Quelly and his mount were positioned.
Queally is believed to have since submitted a complaint of racial abuse with the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) stewards following the incident.
He also spoke to the Racing Post in the aftermath of the race saying: “I was boxing for my position down the inside and there was a lot of general bunching going on.
“It was competitive down there and I got repeated racial abuse from Nico de Boinville when I was coming in around the corner and then he called me a f*****g p***k a couple of times in front of the ITV camera.
“I just didn’t talk back to him, thankfully I didn’t open my mouth. He tried to single me out as if I was the one causing the hassle. When he was shouting, he was picking on me when trying to hold his position.”
Queally also felt he had been singled out by De Boinville due to being an Irish amateur.
He added: “Everyone was at fault and I was just rooting for myself. There was no need for it. None of the other lads would do it because they know you can’t just single out an Irish amateur rider like that – it’s not fair. It was very unprofessional.”
Both jockeys were asked about the exchange immediately after the race on ITV and Queally said: “The start was a bit of a mess, I got tracked back further than I wanted. Being abused by an English rider, Nico de Boinville, wasn’t very nice. I’m an amateur, I’m coming over here riding in front of my kids and that. It was horrific.”
De Boinville, on hearing Queally’s comments responded by saying: “Maybe he should look in the mirror.”
The BHA stewards’ report confirmed Queally had submitted a complaint after the race though the nature of it was not revealed. It read: “An inquiry was held into a complaint received from Mr D. Queally regarding an incident at the start. The stewards, having heard the initial evidence from Queally and Nico de Boinville, have adjourned the matter to obtain further evidence.”
Queally was given a one day suspended, along with other riders, for misconduct at the start of Turners Novices’ Hurdle. Jack Kennedy, Danny Gilligan and Darragh O’Keefe were also handed suspensions.
The Independent has approached the BHA for comment.
