RACING DIGEST:MELBOURNE CUP-winning jockey Chris Munce has been cleared to ride in Australia despite receiving a further ban from the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) after he was imprisoned for his part in a betting scandal.
Racing New South Wales said they would not revoke the licence they had granted him after he was released from prison last month.
Munce was sentenced to 30 months' imprisonment by a Hong Kong court in March 2007 for supplying tips on race horses he was riding in the former British colony.
The HKJC imposed three bans on Munce of nine, 18 and 30 months for various breaches of their rules earlier this week.
All the bans were to be served concurrently from March 2007.
Racing New South Wales reciprocated the nine and 18-month bans, but said the 30-month ban was tied to a criminal offence under Hong Kong law that did not exist in Australia.
Munce was found guilty under Hong Kong's strict anti-corruption laws of supplying tips to a Chinese businessman who helped him to place bets on races in return.
He was transferred to a Sydney jail in September last year, then released early for good behaviour.
Munce is one of Australia's best-known jockeys and won the Melbourne Cup on Jezabeel in 1998.
In Australia, jockeys are banned from supplying tips but offences are dealt with by racing authorities and are not treated as crimes.
Meanwhile the outcome of an investigation into whether Melbourne Cup runner-up Bauer received banned medical treatment before the race is to be made public today.
The Luca Cumani-trained stallion stormed home over the final 200 metres but was pipped by a nose by the Bart Cummings-trained Viewed on November 4th.
The ABC broadcaster said Racing Victoria Ltd (RVL) stewards confirmed they were investigating if the horse had received electro-shockwave therapy in the week leading up the race. The outcome will be announced today.
The practice is banned in Australia so close to the race, though Cumani, whose stables are based in Newmarket, said it was allowed in Britain until race day. Bauer received treatment on the Thursday before the Tuesday race.
"We had a slight issue with Bauer and he (the vet) recommended the treatment," said Cumani.
"We were told it was okay and we have to rely on the vet's advice. This treatment is widely available in every racing country. It is only banned in England on race day so I wasn't aware there would be an issue.
"The vet did not alert me to it being a problem. The vet was appointed by Racing Victoria to look after our horses, I thought everything was fine."
