The British Horseracing Authority's Whip Review Committee has disqualified Alphonse Le Grande from first place in last Saturday's Cesarewitch Handicap at Newmarket.

Rider Jamie Powell was found to have used his whip 10 times on the Irish-trained winner, which is four strikes above the maximum permitted in any flat race.

This rule was introduced in January 2023 and this is only the third time its application has led to a winner being disqualified.

Connections of Alphonse Le Grande have the right to lodge an appeal, but for now the race has been awarded to Manxman, trained by Simon and Ed Crisford, and ridden by Irish-born apprentice Sean Bowen.

Alphonse Le Grande is trained by Cathy O'Leary, sister of Tony Martin. O'Leary took over the licence at the yard following Martin's drug-related suspension which began in May. The suspension was due to run for three months but was extended by another two months by the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board's Referrals Committee in June, following an incident at Newcastle.

After Alphonse Le Grande won the Northumberland Vase at Newcastle, Tony Martin was prominent in the post-race celebrations and media comments made by O'Leary and winning rider Hollie Doyle suggested that Martin was still involved in the training of the horse.

Although Martin made a public apology for his actions, the Referrals Committee found that he had shown “flagrant disregard of the rules, and he has by his actions brought horse racing into disrepute.”

Martin's ban ends today, October 15th.

The BHA statement issued at 1.45pm on Tuesday said: "Following his ride on Alphonse Le Grande in the Club Godolphin Cesarewitch Handicap on Saturday 12 October, apprentice jockey Jamie Powell was referred to the Whip Review Committee (WRC) for use of the whip above the permitted level.

"Having reviewed the footage and taken evidence from the jockey, the stewards on the day counted that the rider had used his whip 10 times, which is four uses above the permitted level of six in a Flat race. The ride and all evidence was therefore referred to the WRC, as is standard practice.

"The WRC meets every Tuesday and Friday. Having reviewed the race and the evidence, the WRC have confirmed that the whip was used on 10 occasions by Mr Powell. All 10 uses made contact with the horse, and none of the uses were clearly and unequivocally for safety purposes only.

"As 10 uses of the whip is four above the permitted level, Alphonse Le Grande has been disqualified from the race. In addition, Jamie Powell has been suspended for 28 days, this being a Class 2 contest with a total prize fund of more than £150,000.

"As a result of the disqualification, the Club Godolphin Cesarewitch has been awarded to original runner-up, Manxman.

"Should they wish to, connections of Alphonse Le Grande may appeal this decision. They have seven days to lodge an appeal, which would be heard by an independent Judicial Panel."

Brant Dunshea, Chief Regulatory Officer for the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), said: "Disqualification was introduced as a deterrent against flagrant misuse of the whip, in order to safeguard the fairness of race results and perception amongst the sport’s fans. It has since been adopted by other major racing nations.

“It sends a clear message that we do not tolerate misuse of the whip. 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

“We understand that some customers will question why this matter cannot be resolved on raceday, especially those who backed the on-the-day runner up Manxman. However, this would present its own challenges, and the consultation process of the whip review revealed a strong preference from several key audiences that these matters should be handled away from raceday.

“The Whip Review Committee (WRC) was introduced to ensure consistency of decision-making around whip decisions. It is critical that decisions of such importance as potential disqualification are handled in a consistent manner via this process.

“This has already proved invaluable as on more than one occasion a ride has been referred to the WRC carrying potential disqualification, but subsequently one or more uses of the whip discounted by the WRC and the ride therefore not disqualified.”

MORE ON THIS STORY IN THE IRISH FIELD NEXT WEEKEND