Jockey`s banned for passing whip during race

DAVY RUSSELL and Phillip Enright were banned for five days by the Clonmel stewards on Thursday after a bizarre incident in which the Gold Cup-winning jockey appeared to ask his colleague for his whip during a race.

The pair were taking part in the Powerstown Handicap Hurdle when Russell lost his stick after a bad blunder at the first flight on odds-on favourite Leave At Dawn. As they turned into the back straight he apparently asked Enright, riding 33-1 chance Backinyourbox, for his whip and the request was granted as pictures on At The Races clearly showed.

Stewards looked into the incident and found both riders in breach of rule 272, bringing racing into disrepute, and both were issued with five-day bans which rules them out of the first three days of the Christmas festivals. Enright was also ordered to forfeit his riding fee.

Enright refused to comment but Russell said: "I'm digesting the situation. It wasn't premeditated and I'll just have to think about it because it has come as a bit of a shock.

"If you go and do someone coming to the second last the rights and wrongs are pretty clear. I don't really know about the rights and wrongs of this situation."

Both riders finished out of the frame in a race won by 10-1 shot Stay With It.

That's a new one on me and very interesting
I would have thought the majority of punters would say that the jock was just trying to the fav the best possible chance of winning
maybe a horse should be fitted with a glass case with an extra whip ( in case of emergency break glass)

Lester Piggott once famously 'borrowed' (I think it was) Alain Lequeux's whip when riding in France - mind you he didn't ask first!