Five banned at Southwell

Jockeys at Southwell felt the wrath of the stewards yesterday as five bans were handed out.

Luke Fletcher was found guilty of using his whip when out of contention on Red Delirium in the opener and was handed a three-day ban to run on December 26, 27 and 29.

In the same race Darren Williams was suspended for two days (Dec 26 and 27) for careless riding on Dasar.

Jimmy O’Reilly, the rider of Queensberry, who finished second in the claimer, was deemed to have used his whip with excessive frequency and was banned for two days (Dec 26 and 27).

In the seller, Dean Mernagh, who rode the winner Sir Jasper, was found to have used his whip with excessive frequency and was banned for three days (Dec 26, 27 and 29), while Rory Moore, on runner-up Wings Of Morning, was handed two days (Dec 26 and 27) for hitting his mount down the shoulder with the whip in the forehand position.