(Reuters) - Cesarewitch Handicap winner Alphonse Le Grande has been disqualified after apprentice jockey Jamie Powell was found to have used the whip above permitted levels, the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) said.
The BHA said the Whip Review Committee (WRC) confirmed after a review that Powell used the whip 10 times on Saturday, four more than the allowed limit of six in a flat race.
Powell has been suspended for 28 days, with runner-up Manxman promoted to first place. The connections of Alphonse Le Grande have seven days to lodge an appeal.
"It sends a clear message that we do not tolerate misuse of the whip," the BHA's Chief Regulatory Officer Brant Dunshea said in a statement on Tuesday.
"There is simply no excuse for using the whip four times or more above the permitted level.
"It is encouraging that there have been so few instances of this being the case since the rule was introduced, with this being only the third time a winner has been disqualified for egregious overuse of the whip."
(Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
