Racing

Frankie Dettori whip ban rules him out of Melbourne Cup

Jockey picked up two whip bans totalling 16 days on his farewell to British racing at Ascot on Saturday

Frankie Dettori rides Trawlerman to victory in the British Champions Long Distance Stakes at Ascot. Photograph: Glyn Kirk/AFP via Getty Images
Frankie Dettori rides Trawlerman to victory in the British Champions Long Distance Stakes at Ascot. Photograph: Glyn Kirk/AFP via Getty Images
Tue Oct 24 2023 - 17:53

Frankie Dettori picked up two whip bans totalling 16 days on his farewell to Britain at Ascot on Saturday.

The Italian was found to have used his whip once above the permitted level of six in winning the Long Distance Cup aboard the John and Thady Gosden-trained Trawlerman, the race that opened Qipco British Champions Day.

Taking into account it was a class one race, Dettori’s penalty was doubled from four to eight days.

The following race saw Dettori narrowly beaten on Kinross in the British Champions Sprint. As in the Long Distance Cup, he was found to have used this whip once over the limit and received the same suspension.

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His ban is due to begin on November 7th, which is the date of the Melbourne Cup.

Two other winning rides saw suspensions for the successful rider, with Sam James using his whip once over the allowed limit in making all aboard Poptronic in the Fillies & Mares Stakes. As this represents a fifth suspension within the previous six months for a breach of the whip rules, James was referred to the judicial panel.

David Allan also used his whip once above that allowed threshold in his victorious ride on Art Power in the aforementioned Champions Sprint.

A BHA spokesperson said: “Ensuring fairness is a key element of the rules and the penalties which are in place – in these cases those governing the most prestigious and valuable races – are intended to act as a deterrent against overuse of the whip. This is, in part, to ensure that all participants, and those betting on the race, have a fair chance.

“Over the course of the year, we have seen jockeys adapt superbly to the new rules and the overall offence rate has markedly decreased.

“The overall objectives of the rules governing the whip, which came about following a lengthy consultation process and have been refined through regular dialogue with jockeys, are to ensure its more judicious use for encouragement, improving the perception of its use and ensuring that outcomes of races are fair.”

Meanwhile, Storm Babet continues to hit racing fixtures in Ireland and Britain but the forecast is less daunting for the major meetings scheduled to take place later this week.

Officials at the Curragh cancelled Wednesday’s meeting following 21mm of rain on Monday night, with the course currently unfit for racing.

Clerk of the course Brendan Sheridan said: “The forecast is for a further 5mm of rain today with the possibility of more rain moving in tomorrow, so there was no prospect of the situation improving here prior to racing.

“We’ve had a total of 77mm in the last week and the ground has been heavy since entries closed last Thursday.”

The going at Clonmel is “heavy but fit for racing” according to clerk of the course Lorcan Wyer, ahead of the jumps card at the Tipperary track on Thursday. A precautionary inspection will take place at 7.30am on the morning of racing.

The ground at Doncaster was described as heavy, waterlogged in places on Tuesday afternoon, ahead of the Futurity Trophy weekend cards on Friday and Saturday.

However, the recent rain is expected to ease off at the South Yorkshire track, which is set to stage the final Group One contest of the season with Saturday’s Kameko Futurity Trophy Stakes.

Cheltenham have no issues prior to kicking off their new season with The Showcase meeting on Friday and Saturday, when Grand National hero Corach Rambler and dual Stayers’ Hurdle winner Flooring Porter could return to action.

“It’s really exciting to get going again and we’re in great shape,” clerk of the course Jon Pullin told Racing TV. “We’ve had a really beneficial summer from our point of view and the turf manager’s point of view.

“Whilst we’ve seen significant rain, which did cause some problems around areas of the site, fortunately the track took it really, really well. We’re in a good position.

“It’s currently good to soft in the main and the forecast is for little bits of rain between now and racing, so I’d envisage that staying the same.”