• Seven jockeys given 10-day bans after final race is declared void• Philip Hobbs’s star beats Un De Sceaux by diminishing neckAn enthralling Tingle Creek, in which Defi Du Seuil held off the heroic late rally of Un De Sceaux, was immediately undermined by prolonged confusion over the outcome of the very next race, the
London National, as horse racing indulged once again its regrettable habit of tripping itself up. The acrimonious upshot was that seven jockeys, including Daryl Jacob and Harry Skelton, have been banned for 10 days and will miss all the valuable, high-profile action over the festive period.
“My kids are having a lump of coal for
Christmas,” said Jamie Moore, another of the riders affected, as he contemplated the loss of income he will now suffer. “I might get them a cheap
Arsenal shirt.”