Jockeys stunned as first week of new whip rules sees 20 suspensions given

Lunar Discovery, the runner-up in a bumper at Ayr on 14 February, has become the first horse to be disqualified for a breach of the new whip rules after the British Horseracing Authority found that Charlotte Jones used her whip 11 times during the race, four above the new permitted level of seven.

Jones was one of 19 jockeys found to have broken the BHA’s latest whip rules in the first seven days of the new regime, which started on 13 February. The Whip Review Committee meeting on Tuesday handed out a total of 134 days in bans, including an 18-day suspension for Lorcan Williams for a winning ride on Makin’yourmindup at Haydock on 18 February. The ban will rule him out of the four-day Cheltenham Festival next month.

Luke Scott (14 days), Cameron Iles (11 days) and Jones (14 days) will also miss the Festival, while Kevin Brogan (eight days) will miss the opening day of the sport’s showpiece meeting on 14 March. His four-day ban for going one over the limit on Collectors Item, the runner-up behind Makin’yourmindup, was doubled to eight as the race was a Class 1 event.

All suspensions imposed at the WRC’s weekly meeting on Tuesday begin seven days later and the new minimum penalty for a breach is a four-day suspension. As a result, any rider found in breach of the new rules between 20 and 26 February who receives a ban of five days or more will be ruled out of the Festival next month.

Brant Dunshea, the BHA’s chief regulatory officer, said on Wednesday that disqualification “has been introduced as the ultimate deterrent for use of the whip”, adding: “There is simply no excuse for using the whip four or more times above the permitted level. It was always likely that the disqualification rule would need to be invoked in the