National 'winner' gets second 5 day ban for whip abuse

[IngridBergman]

Jason Maguire has been given a 5 day ban for misusing the whip on Saturday.

He's done it before about 6 weeks ago, on Cool Mission. He got a ban then too.

I can't help but feel they should look at taking away his 'win' on the basis of this.

How is it fair when the second place horse could have won had he been hit that little bit harder...not to mention the fact it's tantamount to cheating.

And it clearly won't have any impact at all on how he treats his horses in the future. After all, it's all glossed over because he won the National. 5 day ban? So what.

OOH, can I jump in? Im a horse person through and through, I used to be a hunt servant, worked with heavy horses, worked on a welsh A stud, have my own ponies, have been living and breathing horses since I was small.
I dont like racing. I feel like I should, but I just cant bring myself to. Its not about the welfare of the race horses, racers seem like any other horses. They give their all to please people. Racers are well fed, well looked after, and as in any equine sport, people and horses die. What gets me, is visiting an abbatoir, and seeing lorries full of young healthy horses, who didnt make the grade, sent for destruction. Its wrong. I know it goes on all over the horse world, Ive heard of A studs in Wales that do similar, but its the weight of numbers. There is no sport in it. They are wonderful animals. They deserve better.