Jockey gets ban instead of victory after misjudging winning post

Jockey Callum Pritchard has been handed a 12-day ban after misjudging the winning post and easing up his horse with a circuit left to run at Plumpton on Sunday.

Riding 2-1 joint-favourite Sweet Nightingale, Pritchard looked well placed for victory in the Super Nigel Boardman Novices' Handicap Chase.

He led by seven lengths but slowed his horse prematurely, having seemingly miscalculated the race distance.

Sweet Nightingale swiftly fell from first to the back of the four-horse field, and while Pritchard then realised his error, the 25-year-old jockey could only recover to finish third.

Pritchard is a contender for the conditional jockey championship and has won 39 races this season.

Imposing a punishment for the erratic ride, British Horseracing Authority stewards said: "Callum Pritchard, the rider of Sweet Nightingale, [who] placed third, had appeared to mistake the race distance.

"Having established a reasonable lead on the run to the line with a circuit to race, he prematurely eased and thereafter only commenced the race having passed the winning post with a circuit to run.

"After being interviewed and shown recordings of the incident, the rider was suspended for 12 days."

Tristan Durrell leads the conditional championship, which is decided by the number of wins in National Hunt races between 3 May 2025 and 25 April 2026.

Pritchard, who sits in third, now faces an uphill battle to catch Durrell after his suspension ends.

Milan Milos triumphed in Sunday's unusually dramatic race, beating Delgany Deadline and Pritchard's Sweet Nightingale, a mare trained by Polly Gundry.