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Alphonse Le Grande has become just the third horse to be disqualified from a race in Britain after apprentice Jamie Powell was found to breach the whip rules in Saturday’s Club Godolphin Cesarewitch Handicap at Newmarket.
Following his ride on Alphonse Le Grande in the Club Godolphin Cesarewitch Handicap on Saturday 12 October, apprentice jockey Jamie Powell was referred to the Whip Review Committee (WRC) for use of the whip above the permitted level.
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."
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."
Simon and Ed Crisford's Manxman, who was originally denied a nose on Saturday, has subsequently been awarded the victory.
Connections of Alphonse Le Grande have seven days should they wish to launch an appeal.
Brant Dunshea, Chief Regulatory Officer for the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), 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 (WRC) 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."