Harry Redknapp's horse banned for 40 days as racing gears up for Grand National
Northern Air, a mare part-owned by Harry Redknapp, was a 5-1 chance on her second start for the former West Ham and Tottenham Hotspur manager and her first over hurdles at Wincanton.
A horse owned by Harry Redknapp has been hit with a 40-day ban after jockey's 'gentle ride' sparked uproar.
The runner owned by the former Tottenham Hotspur manager caused quite the stir on Monday. Redknapp's mare, Northern Air, was in the spotlight on her second outing for the ex-West Ham and Spurs gaffer, making her hurdling debut at Wincanton as a 5-1 shot.
Under the guidance of Fergal O'Brien and with Paddy Brennan in the saddle, she charged from the back to snatch second, just over three lengths adrift of the hot fave Navajo Indy. But her surge didn't go unnoticed the stewards hauled Brennan in for a grilling over his tactics.
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Brennan, who bagged the Cheltenham Gold Cup aboard Imperial Commander back in 2010, argued he was easing her through the race due to her getting "fairly distressed" in her last sprint, reports the Mirror.
He aimed to calm her down, telling the stewards he was all about "keeping the bit up in her mouth, being patient and riding her up the straight to hit the line". Despite Brennan claiming to hear a worrying respiratory noise, two vet checks found nothing was wrong.
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Trainer O'Brien backed Brennan's approach over the phone. However, Brennan got slapped with an 18-day ban from April 22 to May 16, while O'Brien copped a hefty £4,000 fine for what they called "schooling and conditioning the horse on the racecourse".
The stewards decided that Brennan did not ride his horse "in such a way that he could be seen to ask for timely, real and substantial effort to obtain the best possible placing on Northern Air".
Northern Air has been banned from participating in any race for 40 days. It's a huge blow to Redknapp, who enjoyed an incredible month in April. His horse Shakem Up'Arry became the former football boss' first ever winner of the Cheltenham Festival.
While Northern Air will not be competing in the Grand National, Shakem Up'Arry is the best-backed horse with bookies for the Grand National, which takes place on Saturday April 14. However, under new rules for the race, he'll require five of the runners ahead of him to drop out as he's currently number 39 on the list.