Captain Bellamy disqualified from first place at Newbury

Captain Bellamy has been disqualified and his rider Lorcan Williams suspended for 14 days after the Whip Review Committee confirmed the jockey had fallen foul of the whip rules in his winning ride at Newbury on Wednesday.

The Paul Nicholls-trained Captain Bellamy passed the post a head winner of the Visit Warren Greatrex Racing At Rhonehurst EBF Stallions “NH” Novices’ Hurdle, but it soon became clear that Williams had appeared to use his whip above the permitted level of seven.

The Whip Review Committee on Friday ruled Williams went four times over the maximum, and deemed that because none were “clearly and unequivocally for safety purposes”, Captain Bellamy should be disqualified, meaning Ben Pauling’s runner-up De Kingpin has been promoted to first place.

Captain Bellamy becomes the third winner to be disqualified since revised whip rules were implemented last year. Alphonse Le Grande was disqualified from first place in the Cesarewitch at Newmarket in October, but was reinstated upon appeal.

Williams will be suspended for 14 days, from January 3 to January 16 inclusive, meaning he will be free to ride Golden Ace in the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton Park on Boxing Day, should Jeremy Scott decide to run his star mare in the Grade One contest.

Williams missed the 2023 Cheltenham Festival as part of an 18-day ban for breaching the whip rules during the week they came into force, following a winning ride on Makin’yourmindup in a Grade Two at Haydock.