Apprentice Rihaan Goyaram Suspended Seven National Riding Days After Trentham Incident

New Zealand’s Racing Integrity Board rulings and the national suspended/injured riders list updated in early March record that apprentice jockey Rihaan Goyaram has been suspended for seven national riding days following a careless-riding finding at the Wellington meeting at Trentham on 1 March 2026. The published lists state the charge as careless riding; the full RIB decision text for the March 1 matter was not supplied in the material reviewed.

SkyRacingWorld records show Goyaram took three rides at Trentham on 01 Mar 2026: Helluvah Return (8 of 13, trainer Gary Vile, 2100m, time 2:12.85, prize $33,613), Latest Model (7 of 11, trainer Gary Vile, 2100m, time 2:10.19, prize $42,017) and Finest Hour (3 of 10, trainer Ralph Manning, 1100m, time 1:01.78, prize $33,613). Those entries establish Goyaram as an active rider at the Wellington meeting, but the supplied material does not identify which specific ride at Trentham was the subject of the careless-riding finding.

This early March suspension follows an earlier RIB adjudication arising from a Tauranga race on 6 July 2025. Racing Integrity Board decision RIB56773 records that Goyaram admitted a careless-riding charge under Rule 638(1)(d) in relation to the horse Horrie, with adjudicators Mr Bruce Mainwaring (Chair) and Ms Hilary Gray hearing the matter. The committee described the breach as low range, referenced the NZTR Penalty Guide, and set a starting point of a 5 day suspension. The decision imposed a 1 day uplift for a “somewhat poor record,” deducted 1 day for the plea of admission and jockey status/relative inexperience, and concluded a 5 national riding day suspension, deferred to run from the close of racing on 12 July 2025 up to and including 23 July 2025. The Tauranga hearing record names applicant Mr Brady Jones, Chief Stipendiary Steward Mr John Oatham, and Mr Ralph Manning as present; stewards on that decision noted Goyaram had 381 raceday rides in the period under review and had spent four months sidelined with injury.

Goyaram’s racing background and early success are documented in a Loveracing NZ report that noted his first win aboard Niagara Sky at Pukekohe. Loveracing quotes Goyaram saying, “I am very happy and very grateful for the help I have had from trainers and everybody around me,” and, “I used to go and watch the races in Mauritius, and I fell in love with it and decided I wanted to be a jockey.” The article also states he had been riding on race day for just two weeks before guiding the three-year-old filly Niagara Sky to her debut win for employer Ralph Manning.

Recent race listings further show Goyaram rode at Matamata on 28 Feb 2026 - Perfect Dividends (9 of 9, J & R Vance, 1400m, 1:25.05) and Fan The Hammers (2 of 12, Graham Richardson & Rogan Norvall, 1400m, 1:24.19) - and at Pukekohe on 25 Feb 2026 - Stay Frosty (2 of 12, Graham Richardson & Rogan Norvall, 1200m, 1:09.64) among others. Those rides document his mounting pattern in the fortnight leading into the Trentham meeting.

Significant gaps remain in the public material. The March 1, 2026 RIB decision document is not included in the supplied files, so the decision ID, adjudicators, applicant, full reasons, and the exact start and end dates for the seven national riding day suspension are not available. It is also not stated whether the March 2026 suspension is cumulative with, consecutive to, or independent of the July 2025 suspension recorded in RIB56773.

Goyaram’s record now combines a documented first win at Pukekohe for trainer Ralph Manning, 381 raceday rides recorded in the Tauranga adjudication, and multiple rides at Trentham on 01 Mar 2026, with a seven national riding day suspension appearing on RIB’s updated lists. The RIB decision text for the March 1 finding must be published to confirm which ride was charged and to identify the precise dates Goyaram will be ineligible to accept mounts.