De Sousa to Miss String of Big Races Due to Whip Bans

Silvestre de Sousa will have to serve a whip-related totting-up ban for the fifth time in nine seasons, following the verdict of a disciplinary panel that he breached the rules in winning the Sept. 4 Betfair Exchange Old Borough Cup aboard Island Brave.

The former champion jockey presented his own defense at the hearing Sept. 9 and noted that each of his offenses, taken by itself, was at the lowest end of the scale, prompting the panel to acknowledge there was significant mitigation, but it still ruled a 15-day suspension was appropriate.

One third of the suspension will be deferred, to be triggered if the jockey reoffends at any point in the next two months. De Sousa will be prevented from riding for 10 days from next Friday, meaning he misses a list of quality races, including the Virgin Bet Ayr Gold Cup and the bet365 Cambridgeshire meeting, which features the Juddmonte Cheveley Park Stakes (G1), Middle Park Stakes (G1), Royal Lodge Stakes (G2), and the Rockfel. He will return to action in time for the weekend of the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1).

"The eyes of the world are on our sport," de Sousa was told by James O'Mahony, chairing the panel. "This was a high-profile race on terrestrial television and there is great concern about the use of the whip in our sport, so there is nothing trivial about this case. Having said that, we've been made aware of significant mitigation in the course of this hearing."

The hearing was triggered by the fact that de Sousa broke the whip rules five times in the space of six months but his punishment on each occasion was just two days.

"I haven't abused any horses," he told the panel. "I'm apologizing for what happened but I just hope you all look at my record. My cases are very minor."

Two of the five suspensions, in April and May, were for hitting a horse in the wrong place, which de Sousa linked to the shoulder surgery he underwent early this year.

"The point is, I couldn't land (the whip) behind the saddle," he explained. "I could for the first two smacks but then my shoulder gets weak."

He added that only his two most recent offenses were for using the whip more than the seven times specified by the rules for flat races. He used it 10 times aboard Island Brave but Lyn Williams, presenting the BHA's case, said that was mitigated as the strokes were spaced out along the length of the straight, that the horse had been given time to respond, and had kept on to the line.

Heather Main, trainer of Island Brave, said the horse showed no ill effects from the race and was in fact "bucking and kicking" with wellbeing.

Williams also noted that de Sousa had had 391 rides over the period of his offenses, meaning he had broken the rules at a rate of one ride in 78. That compared favorably with another totting-up case in July involving a rider whose rate was one in seven. 

De Sousa also triggered totting-up bans in 2013, 2014, 2016, and 2018, and has now accumulated 86 days in suspensions from them.

He agreed to spend one of his suspension days at the British Racing School for some training in his use of the whip.