More than 30 years have passed since flamboyant jockey Gavin Eades surfed one of racing’s great highs, punching the air in sheer joy after he was declared the winner of the 1994 Doncaster Handicap.
It was the first of Eades’ six group 1 victories in the saddle, a thrilling photo finish that saw him awarded the race in a three-way bob of the head on the Gai Waterhouse-trained Pharaoh.
The talented hoop would later coin the nickname “Group One Gav”, and further captured the imagination of racing fans the following year when he dashed across the birdcage after going back-to-back on Pharaoh in Randwick’s famous autumn “mile” race.
But Eades’ reign as a group 1 hero flared out almost as quickly as it ignited, and the 59-year-old retired jockey has fallen a long way since.
Last week the Melbourne-based Eades was placed on Racing Victoria’s disqualified persons list, warned off the sport indefinitely by the RV board.
The decision followed a complaint to stewards from a racing participant about Eades’ alleged behaviour.
“Mr Eades did not cooperate with the stewards in relation to that investigation,” Racing Victoria said in a statement on Tuesday.
“In light of his conduct, both towards participants and previously towards the stewards, the board does not consider his continued involvement in the racing industry to be desirable.”
Further details of his alleged conduct were not revealed.
Eades will no longer be able to set foot on a racecourse, bet on horses, race horses or work in the industry.
Eades declined to comment when contacted by this masthead.
It is not the first time the former group 1-winning jockey has fallen foul of racing officialdom.
Eades was warned off for six months in November last year after allegedly making an abusive late-night phone call to a member of Racing Victoria’s integrity team.
It was alleged he made the call after midnight and left a threatening message.
Eades was charged with breaching racing’s Local Rule 94A, which prohibits intimidating, or abusive conduct directed at Racing Victoria stewards, officials or staff.
To have the latest decision overturned, Eades would need to lodge an application with the RV board and attend a show cause hearing. He would also need to front the initial stewards’ inquiry into his conduct.
Eades, the father of jockey Fred Kersley, rode his last race in December 2022.
He rode 502 winners from 4088 rides, according to the Racing and Sports website, including winning two Doncaster Handicaps, the Sydney Cup, the AJC Australian Oaks and the group 1 Galaxy sprint.
But he was never far from controversy.
He was banned for 12 months in 1995 after being embroiled in the NSW Jockey Tapes case, alongside Jim Cassidy and Kevin Moses.
As part of that case, Cassidy, Moses and Eades were found guilty by Australian Jockey Club stewards of selling tips to an alleged drug dealer.
Eade was disqualified for six months for race tipping for monetary gain, and 12 months for giving misleading evidence to the AJC stewards. The bans were to be served concurrently.
Eades lodged an appeal with the AJC committee against the severity of the penalty but was unsuccessful.
Other names added to Racing Victoria’s disqualified persons list in the past three months include Ponzi scheme fraudster Bill Vlahos, who was released on parole in December after serving four years in jail, violent criminal Mark Dosen, and Mandy Melham, the mother of group 1-winning jockey Ben Melham.
The individual bans are not related.
Melham’s mother was placed on the list on May 22 this year after refusing to hand over documentation to stewards in relation to the purchase of a horse from the sales.
There is no suggestion that Melham’s ban has any connection to her son.
Dosen has a string of convictions for blackmail, arson, kidnapping, fraud, aggravated burglary and recklessly causing injury and has spent almost a decade in jail.
This masthead reported in November last year that owner Nick Williams had paid $20,000 to Dosen after he repeatedly demanded money, claiming he was owed for helping to prepare 2007 Melbourne Cup winner Efficient.
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