{"id":6858,"date":"2026-04-15T17:34:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T17:34:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news678.top\/?p=6858"},"modified":"2026-04-15T17:34:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T17:34:14","slug":"grand-national-festival-winner-disqualified-and-jockey-issued-ban-after-major-rule-break","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news678.top\/?p=6858","title":{"rendered":"Grand National Festival winner disqualified and jockey issued ban after major rule break"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\t\t\"Laafi\t<\/div>
Laafi has been disqualified after winning the Debenhams Handicap Hurdle at Aintree last Friday (PA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Grand National Festival winner Laafi has been disqualified and jockey Patrick O\u2019Brien has been banned for breaking rules around the use of a whip.<\/p>\n

The six-year-old horse was a 20-1 winner of the Debenhams Handicap Hurdle at Aintree last Friday.<\/p>\n

However, the British Horseracing Authority\u2019s (BHA) whip review committee concluded that O\u2019Brien had used his whip 11 times after jumping the second-to-last hurdle \u2013 four times more than the permitted number.<\/p>\n

As none of the uses of the whip were for safety purposes, Laafi was disqualified and O\u2019Brien has been handed a 28-day suspension.<\/p>\n

The panel\u2019s report read: \u2018Patrick O\u2019Brien, the rider of the winner, LAAFI (FR), was found to have used his whip four times above the permitted level of seven from jumping the second last hurdle.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\"Jockey\t<\/div>
Jockey Patrick M O\u2019Brien has been banned for 28 days for excessive use of his whip on Laafi (PA Wire)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018Taking into account that none of the uses were clearly and unequivocally for safety purposes, LAAFI (FR) was disqualified under Rule (L)47.11. As this was a Class 2 race restricted to conditional and amateur riders only, the penalty in respect of being above permitted level was doubled.\u2019<\/p>\n

Melon, who finished runner-up behind Laafi, has now been declared the winning horse of the race which was restricted to conditional jockeys and amateur riders.<\/p>\n

The ruling from the BHA does not have an impact on bets placed on the race as all wagers were settled according to the official result on the day.<\/p>\n

Laafi is the first winning horse to be disqualified from a race due to whip-related offences since last June.<\/p>\n

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