Second disqualification for overuse of the whip as review committee finds nine riders in breach of new rules

Mavis Pike has become the second horse in as many weeks under the new whip rules to be disqualified after her rider James Turner was found to have used his whip five times over the permitted level at Newcastle on Saturday.

Turner, an amateur rider, was suspended for 20 days after the whip review committee determined on Tuesday he had used his whip 12 times on Mavis Pike, trained and owned by Nigel Twiston-Davies, when she finished second in the mares’ all-weather bumper.

Six of the nine jockeys found in breach of the whip rules, which came into effect over jumps on February 13, were either conditional or amateur riders. Conor O’Farrell, who received a four-day ban last week for using his whip without giving his mount time to respond, was handed another four-day ban this week for using his whip once over the permitted level.

Conditional jockey Philip Armson will be unable to ride at the Cheltenham Festival after picking up a 14-day suspension for using his whip three times over the permitted level when winning on Gwencily Berbas in the Devon National. He was also fined £650 and ordered to spend a day training at the British Racing School.

Fellow conditional William Shanahan will also be unable to ride at the festival after he was suspended for seven days for using his whip twice more than the permitted level. Sam Twiston-Davies, Tom Cannon, Jamie Neild and Fergus Gillard all received four-day bans. The other major ban was handed out to amateur Alice Proctor, who was suspended for 11 days after using her whip when out of contention in a hunter chase at Taunton.

Three additional rides are set to be assessed by the whip review committee with the results announced on Friday. For those jockeys, any suspensions will still commence 14 days after the offence is determined and they are written to, so if they are found in breach on Friday their suspension will commence on March 17, Gold Cup day.

A BHA spokesman said: “Jockeys are clearly quickly adapting to the new rules, and we praise them for this. We hope all jockeys realise that using the whip without regard for the thresholds in place could very easily lead to disqualification, and to ensure that this does not happen. There is no justification for using the whip four times or more above the permitted level.”

Last week, Lunar Discovery, who finished second in an Ayr bumper, became the first horse to be thrown out under Britain’s toughened new whip rules after conditional rider Charlotte Jones used her whip 11 times, which at four strikes over the permitted seven in jumps races triggered an automatic disqualification and a 14-day ban.

A total of 20 decisions were handed down by the whip review committee from the first full week of racing under the rules, including an 18-day ban for jockey Lorcan Williams which ruled him out of the Cheltenham Festival.

List of jockeys banned for whip violations

Conor O'Farrell (used whip once above permitted level)
Ban: March 18-21

William Shanahan (used whip twice above permitted level)
Ban: March 14-20

Sam Twiston-Davies (used whip without giving mount time to respond)
Ban: March 18-21

Tom Cannon (used whip without giving mount time to respond)
Ban: March 18-21

Alice  Proctor (used whip when mount was out of contention)
Ban: March 14, 16-17, 19, 23-24, 26, 30 and April 3, 5 and 8.

Jamie Neild (used his whip without regard to his mount’s stride pattern)
Ban: March 19, 23-24, 26

Fergus Gillard (used whip once above permitted level)
Ban: March 18-21

Phillip Armson (used whip three times above permitted level and without regard to his mount’s stride pattern)
Ban: March 14-27

James Turner (used whip five times above permitted level)
Ban: March 14, 16-17, 19, 23-24, 26, 30 and April 3, 5, 8-13, 16-17, 21, 23-24

Read these next:

'I'm absolutely gutted' - Lorcan Williams to miss Cheltenham after receiving 18-day ban 

'It's scary and something that really worries me' - Gordon Elliott voices concern over whip rules

BHA hopes first disqualification 'sends clear message' to jockeys over the whip before Cheltenham 

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