Hanagan boost in race for title

Six-times champion Fallon has had an excellent second half to the season, but will miss the British action at the start of next month in favour of a trip Down Under. Fallon’s agent, Terry Norman, reported on Twitter: “Kieren will be going to ride in the Melbourne Cup. Ride to be confirmed tomorrow [Friday].” Coral reacted by pushing Fallon out to 7-1 from 4-1 to be crowned champion, while Hanagan is 1-5 from 2-7 to retain his title. The only other player in the title race, Silvestre de Sousa, is 7-1.

Meanwhile, Brian Hughes believes he and eight fellow jumps jockeys were unfairly punished for failing to pull up during a race that was declared void at Wetherby. The nine riders failed in their appeals against ten-day suspensions in the race at the West Yorkshire track on 12 Octobe. Sixteen-times champion Tony McCoy and leading riders Graham Lee, Paddy Brennan and Denis O’Regan were also among those found guilty of failing to stop after a yellow flag was shown due to a stricken horse on the course. Danny Cook, Jonathon Bewley, Alexander Voy and Brian Toomey were the other riders who continued to race.

The British Horseracing Authority disciplinary panel upheld the bans (26 October-4 November) at an appeal hearing in London on Wednesday.

“I’m obviously disappointed. Myself and the other eight lads are getting penalised for, let’s be frank, something that was the groundstaff’s fault,” said Hughes, who won the voided race aboard Cunning Clarets. “The fellow [head groundsman Ian Ward] thought he was doing the right thing and had the yellow flag, but he didn’t have the right flag up because there was no obstruction. It came out that there was no contact between the clerk of the course and the head groundsman that day and we’re being punished and we’re the bad people.

“We feel very hard done-by, but, at the end of the day, we’ve got to take it on the chin.”