What 99.9% of fans and professionals alike saw at Ascot on Saturday was a thrilling and compelling duel to the line in the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes. Jim Crowley and Hukum edged past Westover in a contest that deserves to be remembered as one of the best in a storied race’s long history.
What the members of the BHA’s whip review committee are likely to see when they study the replay at their weekly meeting on Tuesday, however, is Crowley using his whip at least eight, and possibly nine, times on the way to victory. As a result, Crowley could face a 20-day ban, which would rule him out of the four-day Ebor meeting at York in three weeks’ time, and a fine of £10,000, the maximum under the new rules.
