A jockey was given a ban for swearing at one of his weighing room rivals before a race at Goodwood.
Cieren Fallon used abusive language towards Marco Ghiani ahead of the Group 3 Whispering Angel Oak Tree Stakes. Both riders were unplaced behind the narrow winner Oscula – and soon after they were called to the stewards room to discuss what played out beforehand.
Fallon, riding the misbehaving outsider Happy Craf, admitted he was frustrated by Ghiani heading past him at speed on Soft Whisper.
"I said, 'What the f*** did you do that for?'" Fallon told the Racing Post.
Fallon's 125-1 mount ran around him in the build-up, after he dismounted the longshot. He opted to walk the five-year-old to the seven furlong start at the West Sussex venue.
The stewards' report read: "An enquiry was held following a report that Cieren Fallon had used abusive language towards Marco Ghiani on the way to the start. Fallon, Ghiani and the Veterinary Officer were interviewed.
"Having heard their evidence, Fallon was found guilty of improper conduct and suspended for two days."
In the race, Soft Whisper made the running but weakened into 11th place the straight and was found to have bled from the nose. As for Happy Craf, the Martin Smith-trained mare was always at the back of the field and was eased down on the undulations.
At the business end of the race, Oscula (100-30f) nipped up the inside of 66-1 shot Internationalangel to give Will Buick a double.
The rider said: “Oscula is really tough. All credit to George and his team. They sent me a video of her in the paddock yesterday and she was loving life. She takes her racing extremely well and it's great.
“After Ascot, I said she must be the unluckiest horse in training, but she deserved that today. She tries very hard and is a very good filly with it.”
Fallon's two-day ban covers August 10-11.
In the feature race on the card, the Qatar Sussex Stakes, Baaeed (1-6f) extended his unbeaten run to nine by seeing off Modern Games. The winner is just 1-2 with bookmakers Betfred to keep his unblemished record at ten furlongs in next month's Juddmonte International.
