NEW PLYMOUTH - A winning mount went begging for Waikato apprentice jockey Craig Franklin at New Plymouth - literally because he went to sleep on the job.
Franklin decided to take "a short nap" after riding in the sixth race on Saturday as it was nearly two and a half hours to his next ride in race nine.
The long time was because of a gap of one hour 15 minutes between races seven and eight so patrons could take in most of the All Blacks-Springboks rugby test.
Franklin dozed off in a car in the racecourse carpark after setting an alarm clock.
But he later told stipendiary stewards he slept through the alarm.
By the time he woke his mount in race nine, Karaka Angus, was clearing out for a six and a half length win at odds of 15-1 in the hands of Woodville apprentice Thomas Russell.
To add to the embarrassment, it was the second time Franklin had missed a ride because of sleeping in.
In April he arrived too late to ride in the opening race at Trentham.
On that occasion, Franklin travelled to Wellington from Hamilton on an overnight train.
On arrival at Trentham Franklin took the chance to grab some sleep before the start of the meeting.
At Trentham he was fined $200 but on Saturday he copped a five meeting suspension that will see him out of action up to and including August 3.
Franklin, who is apprenticed to the country's leading trainers Graeme Rogerson and Keith Hawtin, had only the previous week ridden Real Class Act to win the Parliamentary Handicap, a feature flat race of the Trentham winter meeting.
"I am not interested in rugby, so I thought I would take the opportunity to have a sleep instead," Franklin said.
He regretted his decision to have a sleep and was not looking forward to explaining to Hawtin what had happened.
"I shouldn't have done it. It's a ludicrous thing to do.
"The boss isn't going to be too impressed."
When a replacement rider was announced for Karaka Angus, Franklin's cellphone, which was in the jockeys' changing room, rang hot with relations and friends wanting to know why, and asking if he had been injured.
A sheepish looking Franklin eventually made his way back from the carpark about 4.25 pm.
- NZPA
Racing: Between-race nap costs jockey winning mount
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