Jockey poser for Motivator team

THE Motivator team, headed by trainer Michael Bell and Harry Herbert, racing manager to owners the Royal Ascot Racing Club, will meet to consider a replacement for Johnny Murtagh in the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown on September 10.

Murtagh was handed bans totalling 23 days at Leopardstown on Sunday. His ban will start on August 23 and rules him out of the ride on Vodafone Derby winner Motivator in the Irish Champion Stakes.

“We’ll have to see. We’ll have to sit down and discuss a substitute but I feel desperately sorry for Johnny. It’s tough missing rides like this,” said Herbert.