Sherwood sacks Casey over poor timekeeping

David Casey is determined to continue riding in England despite being sacked by Oliver Sherwood for lack of punctuality. The Irishman, appointed Sherwood's stable jockey at the beginning of the season, was given his marching orders after receiving more than his quota of warnings over turning up late for work.

"Both David and I are extremely disappointed at what has happened," Chris Broad, Casey's agent, said. "But he's a good rider and he will be battling on to get over this."

Casey had 87 rides and 13 winners for Sherwood, including Cenkos at the Grand National meeting. However, the jockey was involved in controversy earlier this year at Kempton when dropping his hands and getting caught near the line on Sherwood's Hulysse Royal.

Casey has had big winners for other stables this season, notably Magic Combination for Barney Curley in the Imperial Cup and Copeland for Martin Pipe in Sandown's William Hill Handicap Hurdle

"David can ride at 10st and he has already shown that he can do it in the big races without Sherwood," Broad said. "He is looking forward to riding Menesonic for Robert Alner in the Whitbread."