Cesarewitch: Alphonse Le Grande loses Newmarket handicap due to breach of whip rules

Alphonse Le Grande has been disqualified from first place in Saturday’s Club Godolphin Cesarewitch after jockey Jamie Powell was found to have breached the whip rules.

Riders are allowed to strike their horse a maximum of six times in a Flat race and having hit his mount 10 times, Powell crossed the threshold for disqualification.

Alphonse Le Grande prevailed by a nose on the day over Manxman, but the Simon and Ed Crisford-trained runner-up has now been promoted to first place.

Powell was referred to the Whip Review Committee after the Newmarket stewards found a possible breach had occurred, with the decision confirmed following consideration on Tuesday.

A British Horseracing Authority statement said: “Having reviewed the race and the evidence, the WRC has confirmed that the whip was used on 10 occasions by Mr Powell.

“All 10 uses made contact with the horse, and none of the uses were clearly and unequivocally for safety purposes only.”

Contraventions of the whip are judged on a sliding scale for penalty, which also takes into account the value of the race, with Powell’s four extra hits triggering the penalty of disqualification for the horse and a 28-day ban for his apprentice rider.

The statement added: “As 10 uses of the whip is four above the permitted level, Alphonse Le Grande has been disqualified from the race. In addition, Jamie Powell has been suspended for 28 days, this being a class two contest with a total prize fund of more than £150,000.”

Connections of the Cathy O’Leary-trained Alphonse Le Grande have seven days to lodge any appeal against the decision.

Alphonse Le Grande is the third winner to be disqualified since revised whip rules were implemented last year.

Brant Dunshea, chief regulatory officer for the BHA, feels that statistic proves the rules are working, although he acknowledged the frustration of those punters who backed Manxman and will not be paid out on the 7-1 winner.

He said: “Disqualification was introduced as a deterrent against flagrant misuse of the whip, in order to safeguard the fairness of race results and perception amongst the sport’s fans. It has since been adopted by other major racing nations.

“It sends a clear message that we do not tolerate misuse of the whip. There is simply no excuse for using the whip four times or more above the permitted level. It is encouraging that there have been so few instances of this being the case since the rule was introduced, with this being only the third time a winner has been disqualified for egregious overuse of the whip

“We understand that some customers will question why this matter cannot be resolved on raceday, especially those who backed the on-the-day runner up Manxman. However, this would present its own challenges, and the consultation process of the whip review revealed a strong preference from several key audiences that these matters should be handled away from raceday.

“The Whip Review Committee was introduced to ensure consistency of decision making around whip decisions. It is critical that decisions of such importance as potential disqualification are handled in a consistent manner via this process.

“This has already proved invaluable as on more than one occasion a ride has been referred to the WRC carrying potential disqualification, but subsequently one or more uses of the whip discounted by the WRC and the ride therefore not disqualified.”