The disqualification of Cesarewitch’s 33-1 winner Alphonse Le Grande three days after the historic handicap race has been dubbed “the lesser of two evils” for punters after a review panel suspended the big-racing jockey Jamie Powell for 28 days for using his whip four times above the legal level by winning at Newmarket.

Alphonse The Great was disqualified after using a whip for which the BHA stressed there was “simply no excuse” and the 7-1 shot Manxman was promoted to first, with Aqwaam second, Run For Oscar third and Magellan Strait fourth.

Manxman’s victory also had implications for the closest of apprentice title races, with Sean Dylan Bowen claiming a further winner – his 42nd of the season – to edge out rival Joe Leavy by two days just four days from the END.

Alphonse Le Grande becomes the highest-profile disqualification since new rules came into force early last year, making abuse of the whip an offense punishable by losing a race.

Powell’s ride had been referred to the Whip Review Committee (WRC), which meets twice a week, by Newmarket stewards after counting the apprentice appearing to use his whip ten times during the 2m2f handicap .

At a WRC hearing on Tuesday, it was determined that Powell had in fact used the whip ten times and that none of those uses were for safety purposes, which would have mitigated the use of the whip. Connections has seven days to appeal the decision.

Jockey Jamie Powell and trainer/groom Cathy O’Leary with owners Alphonse Le Grande after CaesareaCredit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

Ed Crisford, who coaches the promoted winner in partnership with his father Simon, said the victory came “in unfortunate circumstances” but he was happy the result was in their favor.

“I am very happy for Manxman, for the owner Rabbah Racing and for the whole team that the race has been awarded to us,” he said. “These are of course unfortunate circumstances and getting the result of a race three days after it took place is never ideal.

“It’s complicated to make a decision on the day, but one would hope that a system and technology could be used to do that in any race on any day rather than having to wait. “

Brant Dunshea, the BHA’s director of regulation, said disqualification was intended in the rules to act as a “deterrent against blatant misuse of the whip” and that there was “simply no excuse for using the whip.” whip four times above the permissible level.

He added: “It is encouraging that there have been so few such cases since the rule was introduced, and this is only the third time a winner has been disqualified for excessive use and blatant whipping.”

Alphonse Le Grande, trained by Cathy O’Leary, was named the winner for the day’s punters under the one-round first round rule. Dunshea said he sympathized with punters who had backed Manxmanbut deferring to the whip’s decisions was the best way to ensure fairness.

He said: “We understand that some customers will wonder why this issue cannot be resolved on race day. However, this would present its own challenges, and the consultation process of the whip review revealed a strong preference from several key audiences for these issues to be resolved. managed outside of race day.

The Cesarewitch 2024 runners are spread across the entire trackCredit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

Dunshea added that the process of referring rides for potential disqualification rather than holding same-day hearings had helped rule out alleged abuse of the whip “on more than one occasion” and rule out any potential disqualification.

The decision to review the route to the WRC rather than deciding the day was backed by Simon Clare, director of customer communications for Entain, the parent company of Ladbrokes and Coral.

“It’s the lesser of two evils,” he said. “During the consultation with the whip, we said that given the rarity of these cases, it would be reasonable for the dust to settle and the race to be reviewed in the cold light of day. What constitutes a use of the whip can be subjective, so you need to be absolutely sure of the decisions made, so it makes more sense to do it after the event.

“There will always be discontent, and that’s understandable, but we think this is the best and clearest approach to take.”

Powell will be suspended from October 29-31, November 1, 2, 4-9, 11-16, 18-23 and December 2-6. The Apprentice was not the only rider to receive a suspension for his use of the whip in the Cesarewitch, with Sean Davis banned for 14 days for using his whip twice above the permitted level on Reverend Hubert.

Neither Powell nor O’Leary’s brother, Tony Martin, could be reached for comment.

Mixedwave was the first horse to lose a race under the new whip rules after rider Alex Edwards used his whip nine times above the permitted level at Market Rasen in November. Swift Tuttle was disqualified from first place at Doncaster in July after Poppy Wynne used her whip eight times above the permitted level.

What do the whip rules say?

Following the 2022 report into the use of the whip, the rules of British racing have been revised. The relevant rules are as follows:

• The whisk can be used to the maximumsixtimes in a flat race orSevenonce in an obstacle course. Any excess of this limit will prompt the marshals to review the route.

• Should you use the whisk? four times or more above the permitted level, the horse and rider will be disqualified from the race

Learn more:

Simon Crisford on the Cesarewitch fallout: ‘I imagine there are a lot of unhappy punters – it’s a complete mess’

Alphonse Le Grande wins in photo finish but 33-1 shot could be disqualified after runner breaks whip rules

Alphonse Le Grande’s owners landed a front-runner by winning a race they could still lose

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