Jason Maguire (left, with Peddlers Cross): ban cut to six days after appeal
PICTURE: Mark Cranham (racingpost.com/photos)Maguire free to ride Peddlers as ban reduced
JASON MAGUIRE is free to ride Peddlers Cross in the Stan James Champion Hurdle after he was successful in his appeal to reduce a riding ban.
Donald McCain's stable jockey was at the BHA on Thursday to challenge the length of a seven-day ban handed out by the Doncaster stewards last week for his ride on Cool Mission, who was found to have suffered minor weals as a consequence of excessive use of the whip.
Maguire had his seven-day ban reduced to six days, leaving him free to partner the unbeaten hurdler, rated a 6-1 shot for the first-day Cheltenham Festival highlight by the sponsors.
Maguire said: "It's the right result. I wasn't confident coming down here and didn't really know what to expect.
"Mr McCain and Mr Leslie [Tim, owner] have been great throughout and I'm obviously delighted.
"It’s very important for the horse. He looks fantastic and I am now looking forward to riding him."
Maguire was represented by solicitor Rory Mac Neice and barrister Graeme McPherson, while the BHA's QC was Max Baines.
Maguire's team argued initially that two offences were involved in breaching rule 54.3 - marking and excessive frequency - and therefore the two-day ban portion should be treated separately, so allowing the second day to be deferred given March 15 - Champion Hurdle day - includes Grade 1s.
That argument was rejected by the panel, chaired by Tim Charlton, but McPherson's assertion that the overall seven-day penalty was excessive, especially in relation to Maguire's whip use, was accepted.
The main thrusts of Maguire's legal team's arguments were that Cool Mission, who finished second to the Johnson-ridden Beshabar in a beginners' chase, had been clipped the day before the race and therefore would have marked more easily - he had never marked previously - and that Maguire's use of the whip did not deserve anything more than a caution as two of the 18 strikes after the fourth-last were 'taps' to encourage the horse to jump the last, and he put his whip down once the horse was beaten.
The panel said that it took McPherson's points about whip use into account in opting to reduce the two-day ban to one. They also returned Maguire's deposit.
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