Sean Bowen handed 18-day ban for whip breaches

Molly Hunter
January 26, 2023 1:19 pm

Rider will serve 12 days with six deferred under totting-up rules.

Leading jump jockey Sean Bowen has received an 18-day ban, with six days deferred for two months, for misuse of the whip after a British Horseracing Authority disciplinary panel hearing.

The pivotal incident in question was his ride aboard Mackelduff in a Wetherby handicap chase on January 14, where he was deemed to have struck the horse without giving him time to respond approaching the last fence.

The offence warranted a suspension ranging from two to six days, but as the penalty would have been Bowen’s fifth within the prior six months, he was referred to the panel.

The panel dismissed Bowen’s claim that his whip use aboard Mackelduff was corrective, agreeing upon a suspension of two days, but the overarching matter was the longer-term penalty for successive breaches of the whip rules.

Three of Bowen’s previous suspensions were incurred because he was not striking the horse on the correct part of the hindquarters, an issue that had arisen because the rider was attempting to learn the backhand technique when using the whip.

Noble Yeats and Sean Bowen winning the Many Clouds Chase at Aintree Racecourse – Saturday December 3rd — Noble Yeats and Sean Bowen winning the Many Clouds Chase at Aintree (Nigel French/PA)

The BHA had proposed to outlaw using the whip in the forehand position under revised rules – which have subsequently been amended to scrap that directive – prompting Bowen to try the method, although the rider’s solicitor Rory Mac Neice said his physical stature made the use of the backhand difficult, resulting in him striking the wrong area of the horse.

The panel included Alison Royston and Jodie Mogford and James O’Mahoney, the latter of whom was the chair and said whilst delivering the penalty: “Mr Bowen is a busy rider, his use of whip is in fact sparing with long periods without infringements.

“Regard has been given to his previous offences, described as technical offences, and the coaching that he has had to, in simple terms, change the golf swing in the context of the state of play regarding the rules as to use of the whip.

“We do accept the argument about his comparatively small size compared to other jockeys in the context of the use of the whip in the backhand.

“Our conclusion, taking into account all of those matters, and the matrix to which I have referred, is one of 18 days of suspension of licence.

“One third of that period of suspension will be deferred for a period of two months.”

Bowen is also required to attend a jockey coaching session with Richard Perham during his suspension, owing to the fact that his breaches in the main were deemed ‘technical’ and it was therefore considered that work on his technique would be beneficial.