Aintree winner disqualified and jockey banned for 28 days after going four strikes over whip limit
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A winner at last week’s Grand National festival has been disqualified after jockey Patrick O’Brien was found to have breached whip regulations on 20-1 victor Laafi.
The Irish 5lb claimer was first past the post on the William Durkan-trained runner in the 2m½f conditional and amateurs’ handicap hurdle on the second day of Aintree’s National meeting, but O’Brien was found to have used his whip four times above the permitted level of the seven strikes allowed in British jumps races after the second-last hurdle.
BHA rules state that any jockey found to have used the whip four times or more above the allowed limit will be disqualified, with the Aintree contest, worth £25,720 to the winner, now awarded to the runner-up Melon for Oliver Greenall and Josh Guerriero.
Laafi becomes the first winning horse in ten months to be disqualified from a race due to whip-related offences, with Flat handicapper My Dream World the last runner to incur the same fate when disqualified from the Queen Mother’s Cup Handicap at York last June.
The ruling puts a dampener on a stellar season for O’Brien, who claimed a first Cheltenham Festival success last month in the Martin Pipe on Air Of Entitlement and is enjoying a career-best winning tally of 21 successes in Ireland.
Alongside Laafi’s disqualification, the conditional rider was handed a 28-day ban, which is set to run throughout May and end on June 4.
Toby McCain-Mitchell, rider of Melon, was also found in breach of the whip rules following the convening of the Whip Review Committee on Tuesday, having used his stick twice above the permitted level after the second-last flight.
As the jockey has already received whip bans three times within the last six months, the 24-year-old was referred to the Judicial Panel.
A total of five jockeys were handed whip bans at the Grand National meeting, with Jonjo O’Neill Jr and Darragh O’Keeffe picking up two each across the three days.
O’Neill was suspended for eight days for his ride on National runner-up Iroko, having been found to use his whip once above the permitted level down the home straight. The ban followed on from another six-day suspension for Friday’s premier handicap hurdle win on Wellington Arch, having again used his whip once more than allowed. He will be out of action from May 2-May 16.
Darragh O’Keeffe has also been sidelined from May 2-May 9 due to two rule breaches after being judged to have used his whip in the incorrect place on winner Koktail Divin in the Manifesto Novices’ Chase and again on Hiddenvalley Lake in the Liverpool Hurdle.
Also found to have used their whip incorrectly was Harry Skelton, who picked up a three-day suspension after using the stick down the shoulder in the forehand position with his hand off the reins when winning on Mr Hope Street in the Freebooter Handicap Chase on Saturday.
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