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  "path": "/2026/04/15/grand-national-festival-winner-disqualified-jockey-issued-ban-major-rule-break-27988419/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-04-15T17:16:16.000Z",
  "site": "https://metro.co.uk",
  "tags": [
    "Sport",
    "Grand National 2026",
    "Aintree",
    "Grand National",
    "check our sport page",
    "Facebook",
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  "textContent": "Laafi has been disqualified after winning the Debenhams Handicap Hurdle at Aintree last Friday (PA)\n\nGrand National Festival winner Laafi has been disqualified and jockey Patrick O’Brien has been banned for breaking rules around the use of a whip.\n\nThe six-year-old horse was a 20-1 winner of the Debenhams Handicap Hurdle at Aintree last Friday.\n\nHowever, the British Horseracing Authority’s (BHA) whip review committee concluded that O’Brien had used his whip 11 times after jumping the second-to-last hurdle – four times more than the permitted number.\n\nAs none of the uses of the whip were for safety purposes, Laafi was disqualified and O’Brien has been handed a 28-day suspension.\n\nThe panel’s report read: ‘Patrick O’Brien, 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.\n\nJockey Patrick M O’Brien has been banned for 28 days for excessive use of his whip on Laafi (PA Wire)\n\n‘Taking 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.’\n\nMelon, 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.\n\nThe 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.\n\nLaafi is the first winning horse to be disqualified from a race due to whip-related offences since last June.\n\n**For more stories like this, check our sport page**.\n\n**Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on**Facebook,** Twitter and Instagram**.\n\nComment now Comments \nAdd Metro as a Preferred Source on Google\nAdd as preferred source\n",
  "title": "Grand National Festival winner disqualified and jockey issued ban after major rule break"
}