Jockeys hit by 32 days of whip bans after controversial Shergar Cup

The standard of jockeyship at the Shergar Cup is back in the spotlight after riders at last Saturday’s meeting copped a whopping 32 DAYS of whip bans.

William Haggas’s wife and assistant Maureen, fresh from saddling Tenability to land the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Classic under Delphine Santiago, claimed the standard of rider at Ascot’s international jockeys’ event was “noticeably lower than usual” – adding that there were “one or two who maybe shouldn’t be here”.

And the British Horseracing Authority’s Whip Review Committee were certainly less than impressed when it convened to hold the invitees’ efforts up to the light on Tuesday.

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Chief offender was Hugh Bowman, who partnered supermare Winx to a world-record 25 Group 1 victories in his native Australia.

The 45-year-old, who has ridden in Hong Kong since 2022, was handed a 12-day suspension for hitting Shergar Cup Challenge runner-up La Pulga seven times, not giving his mount time to respond and also applying the ProCush stick in the wrong place to the Charlie Johnston-trained six-year-old.

The former colony’s whip rules are significantly less severe than in Britain, where six strikes are permitted.

With the punishments upheld in all major racing jurisdictions, Bowman will be sidelined from August 26 to September 6 inclusive.

But Karis Teetan and Dario Di Tocco were also in hot water, being hit with eight-day sentences.

Mauritian Teetan, also one of Hong Kong’s top jockeys and like Bowman riding for Team Rest Of The World Team, will be sidelined from August 26 to September 2 for hitting third home Venture Capital seven times in the opening Shergar Cup Dash and also denying the 9-2 favourite time to respond.

Team Europe’s Di Tocco, Italy’s two-time champion jockey and competing in the event for the first time, will be out of action for the same dates after being found guilty of the same offences aboard second home Team Player in the Shergar Cup Classic.

Suraj Nerredu, who performed a flying dismount after landing the Shergar Cup Stayers aboard Fireblade, received four days (August 26 to 29 inclusive) for not giving Claymore time to respond en route to an eighth-place finish in the Shergar Cup Challenge.

The acclaimed Indian rider captained newly formed Team Asia to a one-point Shergar Cup debut triumph.

This year's Shergar Cup was tweaked and saw an end to the Ladies' team that had been part of the contest since its inception.

It saw a move to more “geographically based” teams representing Asia, Great Britain & Ireland, Europe and the Rest of the World

Five of the 12 riders – Karis Teetan, Delphine Santiago, Katie Davis, Suraj Nerradu and Dario Di Tocco – were riding in Britain for the first time, while Ryusei Sakai, Mirai Iwata, Per-Anders Gråberg and Robbie Dolan have had fewer than two-dozen rides in Britain between them.