FORMER champion jockey Seb Sanders has slated the drawn-out process that saw Cesarewitch winner Alphonse Le Grande stripped of his £90,000 victory.
The Cathy O’Leary-trained horse was first past the post in the big Newmarket race but jockey Jamie Powell has been found guilty of an ‘egregious’ whip rules breach.
https://twitter.com/AtTheRaces/status/1846175852658049287The BHA announced on Tuesday that 33-1 Alphonse Le Grande had been disqualified and the Simon and Ed Crisford-trained Manxman named winner in his place.
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Speaking on Sky Sports Racing, Saunders was totally dismayed it took so long to reach what he thought was a ‘blatantly obvious’ rules breach.
He said it was obvious Powell had gone over the six-strike whip limit, dubbed an ‘egregious’ breach of the rules in the BHA statement.
Saunders, who shared the champion Flat jockey title with Jamie Spencer in 2007, tore the whole process a new one.
He said: “It was blatantly obvious – why we had to wait three days to count to ten… it’s unbelievably silly. It makes a mockery of the game!
“If you had ticket on Manxman and held it to today you’d be marching to the bookies, chest out – pay me now!
“But the way they have it structed at the moment – they have basically said that horse has cheated to win because they have used the whip ten times instead of six.
“They (the BHA) say those extra four have changed the result.
“They say it’s won by cheating but they have allowed the bookies to pay out – there’s an inconsistency there.
“I watched the race and could have told you within 30 seconds that horse had ten smacks – within 30 seconds!
“After the second time of watching it youd have thought, ‘yeah, I can count to ten’.
“I don’t like the fact that with all the whip bans, they have moved to a Tuesday or Wednesday… do it on the day!
“That’s why the stewards are there, and if theyre not doing that what’s the point of them being there?
“I’m sorry, they’ve been doing it how many years?
“We’ve created an incredibly difficult situation that happens in no other sport.
“We can change a result three or four days later for a jockey trying too hard.
“I didn’t have a problem with the ride – but what has now been said, basically, is that he’s won by cheating!
“They should grow a pair, from looking from the outside in, they’re (BHA) afraid of being controversial.
“But it’s not controversial, it’s the rules.
“For me, they’ve totally ruined that day for Manxman and those owners have missed that moment.”
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