Racing: Dispute after whip 'draws blood'

Jodi Mogford will be called before the Jockey Club's disciplinary committee after the stewards at Wincanton on Saturday found that the rider's use of the whip had drawn blood from Ambleside, his mount in the Tim Forster Cup Chase.

A Jockey Club spokesman said yesterday that such a case was "very rare". Ambleside, an 11-year-old, was a length runner-up after a long duel with the winner, Struggles Glory.

Sarah Williams, the gelding's trainer, said at her Devon stables yesterday: "We love all our horses. We would not allow any of them to be hurt. You are talking to one angry trainer. Ambleside is as bright as a button this morning. He's fine. I clipped him very recently, and Jodi hit him on a freshly-clipped part. If I hadn't clipped him he wouldn't have been marked. I should have clipped him the same way Martin Pipe does – he doesn't clip their bottoms.

"David Freeman [the racecourse vet] told me, 'there's blood Sarah', but it wasn't visible bleeding. If you ran a finger over a mark your finger had some red on it," she added. Mogford, 29, said yesterday: "I'm very hopeful I'll be cleared. I didn't harm the horse. The video shows I used the whip in the backhand position. You can't harm horses like that unless you hit them in the wrong place."

A Jockey Club press officer declined to comment until the Wincanton stewards had submitted their report on the case.