More ban misery for Murtagh

JOHNNY Murtagh further incurred the wrath of the British stewards on the opening afternoon of Royal Ascot, picking up bans totalling seven days which will rule him out of the Coral-Eclipse meeting at Sandown next month.

The Ballydoyle stable jockey was hit with a five-day suspension for careless riding aboard Frozen Fire in the Investec Coronation Cup at Epsom earlier in the month, and will miss the final two days of the Royal gathering as a result.

He first caught the stewards’ eyes this afternoon when winning the St James’s Palace Stakes aboard Mastercraftsman and was stood down for one day (June 30) for using his whip with excessive frequency.