Racing: Spencer sets the standard for facing up to failings

In an era when criticism of any sports person is apt to produce a hail of toys out of the pram, Jamie Spencer's reaction to being hit by a 16-day suspension that will rule him out of several forthcoming major fixtures was refreshingly mature.

Yesterday in London the 22-year-old Irish prodigy faced the Jockey Club's disciplinary committee over misuse of the whip and, as expected, was given a long enforced holiday under the system's totting-up procedure for repeat offences. With his suspension running from 4 to 18 October, he will miss the final two days of Newmarket's Cambridgeshire meeting and the first two days of the Cesarewitch meeting back on the Rowley Mile.

Any or all might have provided Spencer, stable jockey to Luca Cumani and on regular call from Godolphin and Ballydoyle, with a lucrative payday. But there were no fists on the carpet, just hands held up. "If you commit the crime you have to serve the time," he said. "I got a fair hearing."

It was Spencer's ride on Boreas to defeat Persian Punch in the Doncaster Cup, a tactical masterpiece but flawed in its execution, that invoked his visit to Portman Square. The Town Moor stewards found the Irishman guilty of using his whip with excessive force and from above shoulder height and, as he had already amassed 15 days of whip bans during the year, his referral was automatic.

His previous suspensions, though, came on 13 different occasions, so none in itself was a heinous crime. But, as he acknowledged yesterday, there is a basic problem with his arm action. He intends to address it during his time off by sending himself back to the classroom. He will take advice from the tutors at the British Racing School in Newmarket.

"None of my bans have been long ones for beating a horse up," he said, "they are all one or two days, mostly for using the whip above shoulder height. It is something that I will have to learn from and I am confident that I can do that and move on."

Spencer is widely regarded as an exceptional youthful talent and a certain future champion but like a few of the ilk before him he must go through a tempering adjustment to the rules of the game. Greats from Lester Piggott to Tony McCoy had to remould their style and came through the rite of passage even more successful. Spencer's attitude to this brush with the authorities bodes well.

"There have been a lot of jockeys better than me who have got into the same trouble with the whip," he said, "but I am confident it is something that I can work on so that it doesn't happen again. The rules won't change, so I'll have to."

Spencer's sentiments yesterday were echoed by another young rider, though one at an earlier stage of his career and with a lower profile. Apprentice Fran Ferris, attached to David Evans's yard, picked up an 18-day ban under similar circumstances, instigated by an over-forceful ride on Deceitful at Doncaster. His suspension also starts today week and, like his weighing-room colleague's, includes three deferred days.

Spencer's latest Group One win came in the Nunthorpe Stakes on sprint ace Kyllachy – whose retirement to Cheveley Park Stud due to knee problems was confirmed yesterday – but is unlikely to be able to add tomorrow's Queen Elizabeth II Stakes to his cv. His Ascot mount, Gossamer, was among eight declared yesterday but neither she nor Rock Of Gibraltar, whose stablemate Hawk Wing will start favourite, will take part unless a monsoon breaks in Berkshire. Hawk Wing will be accompanied by his hare, Sholokhov, while Godolphin's Best Of The Bests and Noverre, plus Tillerman and Where Or When, complete the field.