• Horse Racing

Whip ban for Tony McCoy

ESPN staff
February 16, 2012
Tony McCoy is set for a spell on the sidelines © Getty Images
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Champion jockey Tony McCoy incurred the wrath of the stewards for his use of the whip when lifting Prince Of Pirates to dead head with Brackloon High in the Cavalry Novices' Limited Handicap Chase at Leicester.

McCoy looked to be getting the worst of the issue as Prince Of Pirates was two lengths down having jumped the last, but his mount pricked his ears to suggest there was something left in the tank.

McCoy went into overdrive and Prince Of Pirates, on only his sixth start under rules, responded to his rider's urgings to force a share of the spoils.

"We're happy enough and delighted with the way he jumped," winning trainer Nicky Henderson's assistant Ben Pauling said. "He's got a massive engine and I thought he might have got it, but we've very pleased.

"He's got plenty of ability and needs to learn his trade slowly."

It was a superb effort from McCoy who was niggling and cajoling his mount from some way out, but the stewards found him to have used his whip with excessive frequency.

It was his first offence in the past 12 months, and his first under the new rules, and he will be banned from March 1-4 inclusive.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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