The fiery Australian jockey Danny Nikolic has been banned from horse racing for two years for making threats against Victorian Racing's chief steward.
A racing tribunal last month found the 37-year-old guilty of threatening steward Terry Bailey and his family at a race meeting in Seymour, near Melbourne.
Nikolic had pleaded not guilty to the charges, alleging that the chief steward had issued his own threat to derail Nikolic's career, but an appeals board yesterday upheld the verdict.
One of Australia's most successful jockeys over his 22-year career, Nikolic has clashed repeatedly with stewards.
He's also facing assault charges against another jockey, the jockey's girlfriend and a policeman in three separate incidents last year.
