Alexis Badel has been suspended for the final five meetings of the season and fined HK$240,000 after pleading guilty to failing to take all reasonable and permissible measures to achieve the best possible result aboard V Chevaliers at Sha Tin on Sunday, June 6.

The Frenchman did not ride “with the necessary vigour and purpose” between the 300m and 200m, with the Manfred Man Ka-leung-trained six-year-old finishing seventh, beaten four lengths in the final leg of a monster Triple Trio which delivered a total winning dividend of over HK$106 million.

When comparing other punishments for the same charge, Badel can consider himself pretty lucky.

Vagner Borges was handed a nine-meeting ban on the same charge for his effort aboard Daily Charm on April 17 while Dylan Mo Hin-tung was outed for eight meetings after failing to give Racing Fighter every opportunity at Sha Tin in February 2020.

The timing seems to have helped him with the end of the season limiting the options for stewards in terms of penalty, which for this offence usually sits at about a month – or eight to nine meetings.

However, given there are only eight meetings remaining and Badel was already committed to rides at the next two, a HK$240,000 fine was “in lieu of a period of suspension from riding in races incorporating four further race days”.

In his first full season in Hong Kong, Badel sits fourth on the championship table with 57 winners and 124 placings from 598 rides to collect a tick over HK$99 million in prize money.