Nikolic gets October riding licence case
Controversial jockey Danny Nikolic’s hopes of getting back in the saddle for the spring carnival have been dashed.
Nikolic has failed to get his bid to regain his riding licence heard in August and will instead have to wait until October.
But the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal knocked back Racing Victoria’s attempt to have the appeal put on hold as the state’s police chief tries to again have Nikolic banned from race meetings.
RV barrister Jeff Gleeson QC said the chief commissioner has applied for leave to appeal a Supreme Court decision to overturn the exclusion order banning Nikolic from the state’s racecourses.
Gleeson said Nikolic’s “undisputably criminal and improper conduct” was the reason he was disqualified from racing and banned by police.
“It is his behaviour, his criminal behaviour, and behaviour in breach of the rules of racing that brought about these two things,” Gleeson told VCAT deputy president Heather Lambrick on Monday.
“The determination of the chief commissioner of police to do what he can to obtain that exclusion order has been brought about by Mr Nikolic’s conduct.”
No date has been set for Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton’s application for leave to appeal, although Gleeson said it was likely to be heard this year.
Nikolic’s barrister Andrew Broadfoot said it would take months to deal with the police application and any subsequent appeal, also raising the prospect of it going as far as the High Court.
“Mr Nikolic could be looking at years before the legal processes are exhausted,” Broadfoot said.
Broadfoot said Nikolic could still ride trackwork if he regains his licence and said he might be able to ride interstate.
“At the moment the fact that he doesn’t have a licence is what stops him from riding trackwork, not the exclusion order,” he said.
Nikolic wanted his five-day VCAT hearing held from August 24, which was opposed by Racing Victoria because of the possible police appeal and Gleeson’s unavailability.
Broadfoot said while Nikolic’s behaviour led to his disqualification in the first place, he should not be punished further.
“He has served his period of disqualification and there comes a point where delay amounts to additional punishment,” he said.
Lambrick set October 3 for the hearing, saying it affected Nikolic’s livelihood.
Nikolic was disqualified from racing in September 2012 for two years for threatening Racing Victoria chief steward Terry Bailey at a Seymour race meeting, incurring a further penalty for offensive conduct towards another steward outside a VCAT appeal.