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All three had, Judge Bowman said, pleaded guilty.

The cases of Melham and Thompson did not involve COVID-19, he pointed out, and while Aitken’s case had been against a background of the COVID-19 protocols, he had personal and particular circumstances and problems in his background for which he has been receiving professional assistance.

“None such has been put before us in your case. Mr Aitken, Mr Melham and Mr Thompson pleaded guilty,” Judge Bowman said.

“The bottom line is that we are of the opinion that a two-month suspension should be imposed ... it is cumulative in its entirety on the period of three months suspension [imposed for the COVID-19 breach].

“Thus the total period of suspension for both is five months.”

The extra suspension is in line with the period requested by stewards. The tribunal, throughout this hearing and those involving Kah’s fellow jockeys, Mark Zahra and Celine Gaudray, stressed that the authority’s job is difficult enough without jockeys seeking to mislead them.

Zahra and Gaudray have, like Kah, been banned for three months for breaching COVID-19 protocols for attending the now infamous Mornington gathering late last month.

They, however, pleaded guilty to the charge of providing false and misleading evidence and both received a discount off their sentence.

Apprentice jockey Gaudray was banned for eight weeks, with six weeks suspended for a two-year period.

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Zahra’s guilty plea earned him some leniency: the tribunal banned him for two months, but suspended one. He is now eligible to return to race riding at the end of December this year, one month before Kah.

Melham and Brown, two of the other jockeys at the Mornington party, are currently serving a three-month ban for their COVID-19 breach in that incident. They will face the tribunal next Wednesday after a directions hearing on Friday morning.

The pair have indicated they want to appeal against the severity of the ban, and will also plead not guilty on the false and misleading evidence charge.

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