The Great National Team Festival winner Laafi has been disqualified and jockey Patrick O’Brien has been disqualified for breaching rules around the use of the whip.
The six-year-old gelding was a 20-1 winner of the Debenhams Handicap Hurdle at Aintree last friday.
However, the British Horseracing Authority’s (BHA) whip review committee concluded that O’Brien had used his whip 11 times after jumping the second-to-last hurdle – four times the permitted number.
As none of the uses of the whip were for safety purposes, Laafi was disqualified and O’Brien was handed a 28-day suspension.
The panel’s report said: ‘Patrick O’Brien, the winner’s rider, LAAFI (FR), was found to have used his whip four times over the permitted level of seven from the jump of the second last hurdle.
“Considering that none of the uses were clearly and unequivocally for safety purposes, LAAFI (FR) was disqualified under Rule (L) 47.11. As this was a Class 2 event restricted to conditional and amateur riders only, the penalty in relation to being above the permitted level was doubled.’
Melon, who finished runner-up to Laaf, has now been declared the winning horse of the race, which was restricted to conditional riders and amateur riders.
The decision by the BHA has no impact on bets placed on the race as all bets were settled on the day’s official result.
Laafi is the first winning horse to be disqualified from a race for whip-related offenses since last June.
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