Vincent Ho Chak-yiu has received a 10-meeting ban for not riding Capital Delight right to the line in the gelding’s dead heat at Happy Valley on Wednesday night.

After driving Capital Delight through traffic in the home straight and into contention after the four-year-old settled last, Ho put his whip away a stride or two before the line.

The judge could not split Caspar Fownes’ galloper and Frankie Lor Fu-chuen’s Lucky Archangel under Angus Chung Yik-lai, with stewards finding Ho “guilty of a charge under Rule 100 (2) in that he failed to ride his mount out all the way to the end of the race to the satisfaction of the stewards”.

Rule 100 (2) states that “every jockey shall ride his mount out approaching the end of the race and all the way to the end of the race”.

As it stands, Ho - who has appealed the severity of the penalty - will be sidelined from October 18 until November 20, meaning he will ride on next Sunday’s Group Two Sha Tin Trophy (1,600m) card before beginning a suspension that will see him miss the Group Two Premier Bowl (1,200m) and the Group Three Sa Sa Ladies’ Purse (1,800m).

“Having considered precedent penalties, jockey Ho’s record in relation to like offences and the nature of the breach in circumstances where his mount dead-heated for first placing, the stewards believed the appropriate penalty was for Ho’s licence to ride in races be suspended for a period to commence on Wednesday, October 18 and to expire on Monday, November 20, on which day he may resume race riding,” reported stewards.

Ho has lodged a notice of appeal against the severity of the penalty.

On the back of a career-best 96 wins last season, it has been a bumpy start to the 2023-24 campaign for Ho, with the ban following hot on the heels of a delayed start to the term because of injuries suffered in a race fall in Japan in late July.

Ho shot into third place in the jockeys’ premiership with a treble at Sha Tin last Sunday and moved to seven victories thanks to Wednesday night’s success, but he will now have just three more meetings to add to his tally before his extended absence.

He has seven rides at Sha Tin this weekend, and in last-start winner Dancing Code, he has the chance to taste more success with Fownes. Ho also climbs aboard So We Joy, Billionaire Secret, One Heart One, Podium, Youthful Deal and Excellent Fighter.

Meanwhile, Zac Purton has secured the Group One Melbourne Cup (3,200m) ride he has been chasing, with Hong Kong’s reigning champion jockey to partner Absurde in Australia’s “race that stops a nation”.

Trained by Willie Mullins, who also has Cup favourite Vauban, Absurde is a general $15 chance after his last-start victory in the Ebor Handicap (2,800m) at York.

Before jumping aboard Absurde at Flemington on November 7, Purton will make flying trips to Australia to ride Light Infantry in the Group One King Charles III Stakes (1,600m) and the Group One Cox Plate (2,040m), and In Secret in The Everest (1,200m).