Pipe decides against fine appeal

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Trainer Martin Pipe and jockey Jamie Moore have decided not to appeal against the Jockey Club's punishment for a breach of the rules.

Pipe was fined £3,000 while Moore was suspended for 21 days over the running and riding of Celtic Son last October.

A statement on Pipe's website said they would have appealed had it not been so close to the Cheltenham Festival.

"Martin felt it would be unfair to ask Jamie to go through the process again and risk missing Cheltenham," it said.

Moore was penalised under the non-trier rule, with Pipe's offence covering the instructions he gave.

Moore's suspension ends on 14 March, the day before the start of Cheltenham, while Celtic Son's 40-day ban means he is ruled out of the meeting.

Solicitor Rory Mac Neice, acting for Pipe and Moore, revealed that he had advised them both to contest the decision.

"My advice to Jamie and Martin was that they had strong grounds for an appeal," he said.

"There were a lot of questions that needed answering as a result of the inquiry last Thursday."

But the statement on the Pipe website said that both Moore and Pipe had been hurt by the affair.

"The feeling at Pond House is that the Jockey Club simply does not have any understanding of just how big an impact this has had on Jamie.

"If they had, perhaps they would have taken a bit more time to look at the evidence before coming to such an incredibly quick decision.

"Hopefully the Jockey Club will learn from this and take on board the criticism they had received from the observers who were in the room on the day and deal with inquiries differently in future."