{"id":5298,"date":"2026-04-15T17:31:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T17:31:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?p=5298"},"modified":"2026-04-15T17:31:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T17:31:14","slug":"grand-national-festival-winner-disqualified-and-jockey-issued-ban-after-major-rule-break","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?p=5298","title":{"rendered":"Grand National Festival winner disqualified and jockey issued ban after major rule break"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <div style=\"display: grid; grid-template-columns: 300px 160px; gap: 2px; width: 460px; background: #eee; padding: 2px;\">\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u6574\u884c\u5bbd\u5e7f\u544a -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column: 1\/-1; width: 460px; height: 250px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876674\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column: 1\/-1; width: 460px; height: 90px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876676\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u5de6\u4fa7\u7ad6\u6392 -->\r\n  <div style=\"height: 250px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876672\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  <div style=\"height: 500px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876680\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u53f3\u4fa7\u6469\u5929\u697c\uff08\u548c\u5de6\u4fa7\u5b8c\u5168\u5bf9\u9f50\uff09 -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-row: 3\/5; height: 750px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876678\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  \r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e6\" data-zoneid=\"5876682\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n<\/div><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"646\" height=\"430\" src=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SEI_292662244-1454.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=646\" class=\"article-image wp-image-27988439\" alt=\"Laafi ridden by Patrick M O'Brien coming home to win the Debenhams Handicap Hurdle on day two of the Randox Grand National Festival 2026 at Aintree Racecourse. Picture date: Friday April 10, 2026. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Mike Egerton\/PA Wire. RESTRICTIONS: Use subject to restrictions. Editorial use only, no commercial use without prior consent from rights holder.\" decoding=\"sync\"\/>\t<\/div><figcaption>Laafi has been disqualified after winning the Debenhams Handicap Hurdle at Aintree last Friday (PA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Grand National Festival winner Laafi has been disqualified and jockey Patrick O\u2019Brien has been banned for breaking rules around the use of a whip.<\/p>\n<p>The six-year-old horse was a 20-1 winner of the Debenhams Handicap Hurdle at Aintree last Friday.<\/p>\n<p>However, the British Horseracing Authority\u2019s (BHA) whip review committee concluded that O\u2019Brien had used his whip 11 times after jumping the second-to-last hurdle \u2013 four times more than the permitted number.<\/p>\n<p>As none of the uses of the whip were for safety purposes, Laafi was disqualified and O\u2019Brien has been handed a 28-day suspension.<\/p>\n<p>The panel\u2019s report read: \u2018Patrick O\u2019Brien, the rider of the winner, LAAFI (FR), was found to have used his whip four times above the permitted level of seven from jumping the second last hurdle.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"646\" height=\"431\" src=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SEI_292663444-dbd0.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=646\" class=\"article-image wp-image-27988440\" alt=\"Jockey Patrick M O'Brien celebrates after a winning ride on Laafi in the Debenhams Handicap Hurdle on Ladies Day of the Randox Grand National Festival 2026 at Aintree Racecourse. Picture date: Friday April 10, 2026. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: David Davies for The Jockey Club\/PA Wire. RESTRICTIONS: Editorial Use only, commercial use is subject to prior permission from The Jockey Club\/Aintree Racecourse\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"\/>\t<\/div><figcaption>Jockey Patrick M O\u2019Brien has been banned for 28 days for excessive use of his whip on Laafi (PA Wire)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u2018Taking into account that none of the uses were clearly and unequivocally for safety purposes, LAAFI (FR) was disqualified under Rule (L)47.11. As this was a Class 2 race restricted to conditional and amateur riders only, the penalty in respect of being above permitted level was doubled.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Melon, who finished runner-up behind Laafi, has now been declared the winning horse of the race which was restricted to conditional jockeys and amateur riders.<\/p>\n<p>The ruling from the BHA does not have an impact on bets placed on the race as all wagers were settled according to the official result on the day.<\/p>\n<p>Laafi is the first winning horse to be disqualified from a race due to whip-related offences since last June.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>For more stories like this,\u00a0check our sport page<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on <meta charset=\"utf-8\"\/><br \/>\n<strong>Facebook,\u00a0<\/strong><a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Metro_Sport\">Twitter<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Instagram<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"metro-more-link\"><svg><title>Arrow<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#common-right-arrow\" href=\"#common-right-arrow\"\/><\/svg><span class=\"mor-link\" data-track-module=\"mor-link_article\">MORE: Grand National jockey banned after not stopping tired horse before fall at final fence<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"metro-more-link\"><svg><title>Arrow<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#common-right-arrow\" href=\"#common-right-arrow\"\/><\/svg><span class=\"mor-link\" data-track-module=\"mor-link_article\">MORE: Grand National punter wins \u2018biggest bet ever\u2019 after \u00a3100,000 gamble at Aintree<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"metro-more-link\"><svg><title>Arrow<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#common-right-arrow\" href=\"#common-right-arrow\"\/><\/svg><span class=\"mor-link\" data-track-module=\"mor-link_article\">MORE: Grand National horse Get On George dies moments after pulling up with fatal injury<\/span><\/p>\n<section id=\"share-buttons-bottom\" class=\"share-buttons share-buttons-bottom\">\n\t\t\t<span><svg><title>Comment now<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#social-comment\" href=\"#social-comment\"\/><\/svg><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"share-bar-comments__label\">Comments<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<span><svg><title>Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#social-preferred-source\" href=\"#social-preferred-source\"\/><\/svg><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"share-bar-preferred-source__label\">Add as preferred source<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t<\/section>\n<div class=\"newsletter-end-card accent--sport\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-end-card__inner\">\n<h4>Football Newsletter \u2013 In The Mixer<\/h4>\n<p>Punchy analysis, transfer talk and more from Metro&#8217;s football experts, sent straight to your inbox every week.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><script async defer src=\"https:\/\/platform.instagram.com\/en_US\/embeds.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><!-- \u603b\u5bb9\u5668\uff1a\u6700\u5927\u5bbd908px Grid\u7d27\u51d1\u5e03\u5c40 -->\r\n<div style=\"display: grid; 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