ALG Stripped of Cesarewitch Win

Alphonse Le Grande, who narrowly claimed victory over Manxman by a nose in the £175,000 Cesarewitch Handicap at Newmarket on Saturday, has been disqualified after his jockey, apprentice Jamie Powell, breached whip rules. The gelding, owned by Cathy O’Leary and trained in Ireland, became the highest-profile horse to be disqualified under the British Horseracing Authority's (BHA) stricter whip regulations, introduced at the start of 2023.

Observers noted that Powell used his whip 10 times in the final quarter-mile, exceeding the limit of six strikes in Flat races. This breach triggered an automatic disqualification, pending confirmation by the BHA’s whip review committee, which upheld the decision during its weekly meeting on Tuesday.

As a result, Manxman, trained by Simon and Ed Crisford, was promoted to first place, taking home £90,000. The other top finishers, Aqwaam, Run For Oscar, and Magellan Strait, were also moved up to second (£42,000), third (£21,000), and fourth (£10,500), respectively.

Powell, a 3lb-claiming apprentice, received a 28-day riding ban for his infraction. Alphonse Le Grande is now the third horse to lose a victory due to a whip offence since the rule was implemented. Previous disqualifications include Mixedwave, who lost a handicap chase win at Market Rasen in November 2023 after jockey Alex Edwards exceeded the jump-racing whip limit, and Swift Tuttle, who was stripped of a short-head win in a stayers’ handicap at Doncaster in July 2024.

"There is simply no excuse for using the whip four times or more above the permitted level," said Brant Dunshea, the BHA’s chief regulatory officer. "It is encouraging that such breaches have been rare, with this being only the third time a winner has been disqualified for excessive whip use."