Whip controversy rider Ladd tells mentor John Reid: I'll never do that again

Theodore Ladd, the jockey who will miss a large part of January after picking up two chunky suspensions at Southwell on Saturday, will bounce back and learn from his errors, according to his coach, Classic-winning rider John Reid.

Ladd was hit with a 12-day ban – three for careless riding and nine for overuse of the whip – when landing a nursery on Whenapoet and again fell foul of the stewards for his winning ride on Love Rat, which resulted in a seven-day suspension, also for a whip violation.

He was criticised by senior Flat rider Luke Morris, who rode the nose second in Love Rat's race, but Reid on Monday offered the 21-year-old jockey his support.

Watch a replay of Love Rat's win on Saturday

"Of course he'll learn from it," Reid said. "There's a bit of publicity about it, but it's a hiccup in a long career and it's not going to stop him riding.

"He's a hard-working lad and always has been. He keeps himself extremely fit and he's very determined to win, but what he did the other day wasn't good. I let him know that in no uncertain terms but he'll get over it.

"You can't be doing that and he knows it. He said to me, 'I'll never, ever do that again', and jockeys have done far worse."

Reid, who won the Derby on Dr Devious in 1992, added: "He tries as hard as he can and he'll get there. He's done well and has gradually had more winners.

"It hurts, but you learn from it. I told him if he's going to be a jockey he's got to be riding on as many days as he can, not having days off, and I said one winner at Southwell isn't going to change your career. He has to learn that and he will. He'll be fine."

Ladd, who had his first ride in October 2016 and has ridden 29 winners, is a graduate of the British Racing School and won the apprentice hands and heels series in 2018.

"I don't know what got into him," Reid said, reflecting on Saturday. "I've always tried to keep him on the right mark and I've never seen him hit a horse that many times. I don't think he was hitting it that hard, but he just carried on in the rhythm and kept going.

"I spoke to him after the race and said, 'What were you doing?' I don't know what happened to him on the day. I haven't been too hard on him because he'll be sore enough without me jumping on his head."

Reid, among a clutch of former jockeys now passing on their wisdom and experience, added: "I've told him before beating a horse up doesn't make it go any quicker and he knows that, but I don't think there's a jockey alive who hasn't gone through that stage, getting carried away with the whip. They learn not to and he's got 19 days to think about it.

"What he did was way over the top and I don't understand what got into his head."

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