Paddy Brennan and Fergal O'Brien handed maximum penalties for schooling a horse in public

Paddy Brennan and Fergal O’Brien have had the stiffest possible schooling sanctions imposed on them over the running and riding of Northern Air at Wincanton on Monday.

Jockey Brennan was banned for 18 days and trainer O’Brien fined £4,000 after being deemed to have been schooling and conditioning Northern Air on a racecourse in the 1m7f maiden hurdle.

The Wincanton stewards found Brennan had failed to ride Northern Air in such a way that he could be seen to ask for "timely, real and substantial effort" to obtain the best possible placing.

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Northern Air was bought by O’Brien and Brennan for £105,000 in December after winning a mares’ maiden at Dromahane the previous month. 

The five-year-old was sixth under Brennan in a Newbury bumper last month and was making her hurdling debut in the colours of former football manager Harry Redknapp.

Northern Air was second in the betting behind Navajo Indy, and the 5-1 shot was beaten three and a quarter lengths by that rival, having been held up in rear before making significant ground on the odds-on favourite in the home straight.

An inquiry was held into what the stewards adjudged to be tender handling by Brennan with O’Brien, who was not at Wincanton, interviewed by phone. Northern Air was suspended from running for 40 days.

Fergal O'Brien: trainer of Northern Air was not present at Wincanton and was interviewed on the phoneCredit: (Photo by Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images))

Senior steward Tom Evetts told Racing TV: “Our concern came that in having turned out of the back straight, at a time where we’d like horses to be improving their position, Mr Brennan was very tender in his handling of the mare.

“Up the entirety of the straight we felt he just wasn’t doing enough on a mare that was passing horses and finishing off strongly. She was beaten just over three lengths at the line.

“Mr Brennan’s case was he wanted to hold her up, she raced keenly at Newbury and didn’t finish her race so his priority and Mr O’Brien’s priority coming here today was to get her to finish her race strongly. "

Brennan, who won the Gold Cup on Imperial Commander in 2010 and now rides solely for O’Brien, reported that Northern Air had made a respiratory noise as she began to make up ground turning into the home straight.

“The question that you could ask is where the line between intent and schooling is,” said Evetts. “We’ve done her under schooling. Intent is where the rider is doing the opposite of what we’d expect. Schooling is where the rider’s not doing enough and up the straight, we felt Mr Brennan just wasn’t doing enough.

“He said, having raced down the side, he began to ask the mare for an effort and he heard her make a noise. From then on, it was his priority to get the bit back up in her mouth and to finish the race strongly.

“If a horse’s welfare is at risk, that’s not something we compromise on. We’d expect Mr Brennan to do what’s best for her welfare but in this case, she was running strongly all the way through to the line. There was no suggestion that the wind was affecting her.

“When he did ask her for a bit more of an effort after the last, she gained strongly on a horse that was eventually eased down. We felt that the wind was not justification for the tender handling of the mare up the straight.”

Brennan’s suspension will begin on April 22, meaning he will miss Sandown’s season finale but will be eligible to ride Dysart Enos in the Grade 1 Trustatrader Top Novices' Hurdle at Aintree’s Grand National meeting on Friday.

On the severity of the sanctions, Evetts added: “Under schooling you do the trainer and the jockey together. The horse gets a mandatory 40-day suspension. The range is ten to 18 days for the jockey with an entry of 14. As she’s finished second strongly, we’ve had to go to the top of that range.

“That applies then to Mr O’Brien. It’s £2,500-£4,000 and again we’ve gone to the top of that range."

Spotlight in-running comment

Took keen hold, held up in rear, not fluent 3 out, tenderly handled and headway before 2 out, pushed along and went second run-in, not reach winner, eyecatcher.

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