Free attendance at additional Ayr meeting on Friday

Ayr's extra meeting on Friday is free to attend, with gates opening at 11am and the first race due off at 11.55am.

Racecourse managing director David Brown said: “We are delighted to be able to stage this additional fixture on Friday.

"Like other courses in the north we have lost fixtures this winter due to bad weather so we are happy to provide an extra meeting which will be free to all.”

Appeals withdrawn

Champion Flat apprentice Oisin Orr and 7lb claiming Flat and jumps rider John Fitzpatrick have withdrawn their appeals against penalties enforced on them this month.

Orr was banned for 14 days and his mount Dancing Doll disqualified from fifth place at Dundalk last Friday after Orr was deemed to have ridden dangerously in an incident which saw Killian Hennessy and Long Journey Home hit the deck in the home straight.

Fitzpatrick's appeal regarded a ten-day ban for breaching rule 212 A(ii) aboard trainer 100-1 shot The Monks Kitchen, who finished ninth of 21 on his second start in a Navan maiden hurdle on December 9.

The stewards also issued a five-day suspension for Fitzpatrick falling foul of rule 272(ii), which concerns supplying misleading or false information at an inquiry.

Morrison hearing

Hughie Morrison will appear before the disciplinary panel on Tuesday at the BHA's headquarters in London, the first of two days scheduled for the high-profile hearing.

The trainer is facing charges following a positive test for an anabolic steroid returned by Our Little Sister at Wolverhampton in January.

Morrison has vigorously protested his innocence throughout the investigation process, having at various stages called in the police and offered a reward for information that could explain how the offending substance found its way into the horse's system.

BHA introduces new rules

The BHA on Monday announced two changes to the rules of racing that will take effect from January 1.

A new rule will bring about a mandatory five-day stand-down period from racing for any horse who has undergone extra-corporeal shockwave therapy, a procedure commonly used to treat issues including tendon and ligament injuries.

There will also be an amendment to the rules governing equine influenza vaccinations, with stewards granted the power to prevent any horse from running who does not comply with the requirements for the vaccines against the disease.

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