Chaos at Plumpton

Tony McCoy was among a group of jockeys who were given lengthy bans as jump racing`s new season descended into chaos when the opening race at Plumpton today was declared void.

McCoy and five colleagues were banned for 10 days after the 28th September Restart Claiming Hurdle, having been found to have taken the wrong course.

The riders had passed the incorrect side of a dolled section in the back straight on both circuits.

Gerry Supple, who was first past the post on the front-running Potentate, trained by champion Martin Pipe, was hardest hit, being handed a 14-day suspension.

The only rider who escaped censure was amateur Harry Poulton, whose mount, Mujalia, had refused to race.

The banned group, which also numbered Tom Scudamore, Jason Maguire, Paul Flynn, Barry Fenton and leading amateur David Crosse are all understood to be considering an appeal.

McCoy, banned from May 8-11 and 13-18 inclusive, declined to comment.

Supple, whose additional four days on the sidelines cover May 22-25, insisted that the route he took, passing between the rail and the far side hedge, seemed the natural way to go.

He said: 'Basically you keep a rail to your left, and I don`t see the point of having a rail up there without any purpose. I jumped the hurdle, I knew the rail was there and I kept it to my left.

'The plan of the racecourse doesn`t have the rail on it.

'A plan is a plan, and if you have the plan of a house you don`t leave the front doors out, do you?'

The rider admitted he had not walked the course before racing, but maintained he was satisfied that he knew his way round.

And he insisted that a marker sign displaying a capital H, denoting the hurdles track, was not in evidence.

'I`d looked at the map of the course to see if there any changes and I went out to have a look at the ground, and I was aware that the rail was there when I looked at the first hurdle,' he said.

'I don`t think it was laid out properly.

'If it was then there would have been an H, and it wasn`t there.'

Supple said he had already spoken to Michael Caulfield, general manager of the Jockeys` Association, regarding a possible appeal.

'I shall speak to Michael again this evening. Rules are rules, and if there had been an H there and I had gone the wrong side of it, then okay. But I don`t think I`m to blame.'

Barry Fenton admitted to being in two minds on his mount, Persian Band, after taking the first flight in the back straight.

'I just wasn`t quite sure,' Fenton said. 'The racecourse map makes no mention of it, whereas all the other rails on the course are marked out.

'There was no H sign on it, so who`s to say we didn`t go the right side.'

Clerk of the course David McHarg said he felt the rail did not present an element of confusion.

'It is an external rail, not an internal running rail, and it defines the outside of the course,' he explained. 'In the spring and autumn here when we have been watering we always use as near to the centre of the track as we can, to avoid the ground on the outside which is not watered.'

Stewards` secretary Terence Brennan would not comment on how the course was marked.

'The stewards are putting a report in to the Jockey Club on the situation,' he said. 'The jockeys have all asked for a tape which is often an indicator that they are to consider an appeal.'

Brennan added that the stewards had contacted the Jockey Club before deciding on the punishments.

'The recommendation is that the winner be given 14 days, and it is reduced down. We spoke to London and it was decided to give the others 10 days,' he said.

The stewards were left with no option under the Rules of Racing but to void the contest, because the entire field had failed to take the correct course.

The runners were supposed to pass to the left of the railed section, which extended to about 100 yards between the two flights in the back straight.

The stewards found the riders to be in breach ofRule 156.