Colin Keane in danger of missing Sussex ride on Field Of Gold after breaking whip rules

Colin Keane faces the prospect of missing the ride on Field Of Gold in the Qatar Sussex Stakes after appearing to break the whip rules when winning on Windlord for his employer Juddmonte.

Keane, who was appointed as retained rider for Juddmonte on June 9, looked to have used his whip eight times when landing the Listed Gala Stakes by a nose, which would be twice above the permitted level.

His case will go to the Whip Review Committee – which sits on Tuesdays and Fridays – next week, but should the rider be found to have breached the rules he faces a ban of 14 days, with penalties usually commencing two weeks after the date of the committee hearing.

Should Keane receive the maximum ban, he would miss the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot and the start of Glorious Goodwood, but he may be free to ride on the final day of the meeting depending on when the dates of the ban are imposed.

Last week Gary Carroll was able to backdate the start of his 14-day ban for winning the Coronation Stakes on Cercene to allow him to ride the filly in the Irish Oaks, having initially been ruled out of doing so.

Windlord's success was a deserved one for the colt, having played pacemaker to Field Of Gold in his last two starts. Speaking after his victory, trainer Andrew Balding said: "All credit to the horse. He showed real desire and he’s been asked to do something that wasn’t ideal for him the last couple of times so it was nice for him to win a race in his own right.

"He’s done an important job for the bigger picture, but it’ll be nice thinking he’ll stay further. It’s something we haven’t tried, but we did think it was a possibility at the beginning of the year."

The win was the second part of a double for Juddmonte, Balding and Keane, who had teamed up in the 5f handicap with Kassaya. And the Kingsclere trainer followed up with more Listed success as Coltrane held off Al Nayyir in the Coral Marathon. It was Balding's 20th winner in the past two weeks.

Coltrane: back in the winner's enclosureCredit: (Alan Crowhurst/Getty Images)

Super Staya

Staya continued her progression for George Scott when landing the Listed Coral Dragon Stakes.

After a debut success at Yarmouth, the 375,000gns breeze-up purchase was narrowly beaten into fifth in the Queen Mary at Royal Ascot before returning to winning ways under Callum Shepherd.

Chris Wall, racing manager to owners’ KHK Racing, said: "It's a nice progression from Royal Ascot and we'll have to have a discussion with everybody, but the Princess Margaret at Ascot was mentioned as a next possibility. That gives us a bit of time as it's at the end of the month."

Shepherd added: "She’s done really well. She was quite stressy when she came to us, but that’s been ironed out. She’s got a very nice mindset and I think she’s progressive. It’s good to have her in the yard."

Pier excites Doyle

James Doyle is excited for what the future holds for the Charlie Appleby-trained Pacifica Pier after his winning debut in the 7f novice.

The Palace Pier colt was one of two Godolphin runners in the race and Doyle was confident of a good performance despite the market favouring stablemate Key Of Magic.

He said: "He’s a big, raw horse who should benefit from a bit of time. I sat on him a few weeks ago and we were quietly pleased with him. We were hoping he’d spark up a little bit on the track, which he did, and I can see him being a very nice three-year-old."

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