Title blow for Spencer

JAMIE SPENCER’S hopes of retaining the jockeys’ title suffered a blow yesterday after the rider was referred to the Horseracing Regulatory Authority under the ‘totting-up’ procedure.

Spencer had already been walking a tightrope after clocking up 20 days of riding bans in the past 12 months but a further offence at Newmarket has tipped him over the edge.

In an inquiry held over from Wednesday, the stewards found Spencer guilty of careless riding aboard second-placed Garafena in the Kleinwort Benson Maiden Stakes.