Holland left out in the cold

Darryll Holland may find himself cold-shouldered by Mark Johnston after his well-publicised mix-up in Sweden, it emerged yesterday.

His future opportunities may be curtailed by a "disappointed" trainer, who has booked him for only one of his four runners at Ayr today.

Johnston is upset that he was forced to book a local rider at the last minute after Holland failed to arrive in time to partner Gaelic Storm at Jagersro on Sunday.

He revealed that it is not the first time he has been left waiting by the rider, who was barred from taking two rides on his eventual arrival at the Malmo track after failing an alcohol breath test.

Holland, who was formally employed as stable-jockey by Johnston in 1995 but left to go to Hong Kong, has ridden regularly for the Middleham yard this year and partnered Gaelic Storm to two previous victories in Norway.

The jockey's late arrival after an apparent mix-up over the time of the race could prove costly.

"Anyone can make a mistake and I have spoken to him and he has apologised but I am still disappointed," Johnston said.

"It is the first time he has actually missed a ride for me but it is not the first time we have been waiting for him and panicking.

"I am not very happy and I will be considering how much he is going to ride for us in the future. It depends on his attitude and whether he is going to pull his socks up. "But this kick up the backside might be just what he needs."

Johnston has booked Kieren Fallon to ride Splash Out at Ayr today, with Joe Fanning on Around The World and Richard Hughes on Netta Rufina. Holland rides only Premier Project.

Holland (27) won the Goodwood and Doncaster Cups on Double Trigger for the trainer last season and Lend A Hand into second in the 2000 Guineas.

Meanwhile the Jockey Club stressed that the alcohol limit for riders in this country is even more stringent than the Swedish mark which caught Holland after a reported one glass of wine.

The threshold was reduced earlier this year to 54 milligrams of alcohol per millilitre of urine from 108.

And public relations officer John Maxse stressed that none of the 600 samples tested since the procedure was introduced in October, 1994 had been near the new limit, let alone the old one.