Racing: Murtagh the whipping boy for Royal Rebel triumph

Stewards suspend winning jockey again as Mark Johnston's reluctant hero stages a repeat of last year's Gold Cup success

There was an imperfect symmetry to the grandest of Royal Ascot's races, the Gold Cup, here yesterday. Once again Royal Rebel was a glorious, if baffling, winner, once again his jockey, Johnny Murtagh, was suspended for excessive use of the whip. For the second consecutive year, the excitement of witnessing such a raw gladiatorial contest was quickly dissipated by a penalty to one of its leading players.

It is indisputable that Royal Rebel would be extinguished as a competitive force if jockeys were not allowed to use considerable persuasion on him. Also true is the fact that yesterday's stewards' panel acted wholly within the letter of the law. The sole conclusion is that the rules must be wrong.

Royal Rebel did not resent his treatment yesterday, even in surroundings in which he might have known what was coming. On the contrary, he produced the best performance of his career.

It is a bizarre statistic that he has won just two of his last 14 starts, both Gold Cups. The reluctant hero now joins the names of Sagaro, Le Moss and Ardross as multiple winners of Royal Ascot's oldest race.

A comforting thought is that it is the indomitable nature of his victories which is more likely to be remembered than either the whip strokes he received or the suspension of his jockey. Murtagh, and Frankie Dettori, who received the same punishment for his whip-use on the third, Wareed, will again miss the Irish Derby on Sunday week, but that was not an eventuality floating across his mind as the field flew down the Berkshire straight yesterday. "It's annoying to be a top sportsman and get penalised for trying your best," he said.

For this was the culmination of a game plan executed to perfection. Royal Rebel is not a horse who delivers unless he is woken from reverie. And it is not a Snow White kiss on the lips which does the trick. As soon as Murtagh was hoisted into the six-year-old's saddle yesterday he gave the old horse a kick in the ribs. When the partnership left the stalls, two cracks of the whip stopped the bottom half dozing off again.

"There is no bullying him if he doesn't want to go," Mark Johnston, the winning trainer, said, "but you do have to arrive at an arrangement with him. You have to tell him today's the day.

"It was a different Royal Rebel today. The fact that he came past the stands on the first circuit, managing to go the pace, was encouraging. That's the first time we've seen the horse switched on in a while."

Persian Punch, as is now tradition in the Gold Cup, led for a long way, but, once more, he did not lead in the best place. Royal Rebel went by him in the straight, but then his leadership was usurped by Vinnie Roe and then Wareed. They should have fought out the finish, but logic became inapplicable. Murtagh galvanised Royal Rebel and the gelding made the race his.

The strain could not be hidden. As they returned, the horse's head was close to the ground. Murtagh theatrically panted, like a dog in the sun. Later came the judgement that this one good day would lead to four barren ones for the jockey.

"I tried to keep him as motivated as I could," Murtagh reported. "He did well today because he travelled a long way and didn't come off the bridle until six out. That's good for him. I was just trying to give him a smack and then put it down because I'm very aware of the rules here now.

"It's hard for a jockey that's trying to win so much. If I'd put my stick down when the other two passed me I'd have been third. I went for everything."

Certainly there were no recriminations from the rest of the connections. "Let's be absolutely clear about this," Johnston said. "We're talking about a jockey with 18 inches of stick in his hand sitting on half a ton of horse. He [Murtagh] couldn't hurt Royal Rebel if he tried.

"We can't speak to him so we have to use every tool at our disposal to get through to his mind, to get the message over that this is the Ascot Gold Cup and we're trying to win."

Patrick Hibbert-Foy, stipendiary steward, said: "The jockey is in a Catch-22 situation. I spoke to the jockeys today to remind them of the situation because we had four suspensions in the first two days and another in the opener. It is very competitive racing and jockeys are riding at the limit of instructions. But they cannot go beyond it."

This will be of no relief to Royal Rebel. His indolence will once again be challenged when he next steps out on to a race-track, dual Gold Cup winner or not. "It's a great pity that such a race as that should be marred by a whip offence," Peter Savill, the winning owner and chairman of the BHB, said. "If you cannot use the whip then Royal Rebel would have to be retired. He would not win anything."