Maguire available for Peddlers ride

Jason Maguire will be able to ride Peddlers Cross in the Stan James Champion Hurdle after having his riding ban reduced on appeal.

Maguire challenged the length of the seven-day ban handed out by the Doncaster stewards for his ride aboard Cool Mission at the track last week.

The rider was due to miss the plum ride on Donald McCain's Champion Hurdle contender but after getting one day knocked off his suspension, he will be able to ride.

Maguire said: "I'm absolutely delighted. It's brilliant to get back in the Champion Hurdle. It's all systems go now. Rory Mac Neice and Graeme MacPherson (Maguire's legal team) did a great job.

"It's been hanging over me in the last few days but I've had a lot of support from fellow jockeys and from people at the races. It's the right result for the Champion Hurdle."

The Doncaster stewards took issue with Maguire after he partnered Cool Mission to finish second in a three-mile beginners' chase last Wednesday.

They initially banned him for five days for marking the horse, with a further two days awarded for using his whip with excessive frequency.

The suspension ran from March 9-15 inclusive which meant Maguire would miss the first day of the Cheltenham Festival.

However, while the British Horseracing Authority upheld the initial five-day suspension, they reduced the latter ban to just one day which allows Maguire to ride at the National Hunt showpiece.