Racing: Riding by the rules

BRITAIN'S jockeys stayed on the right side of new regulations on use of the whip yesterday afternoon, but at least one felt that the latest guidelines had cost him a winner.

The new rules allow the local stewards to hold an inquiry - and possibly suspend the offending jockey - when a horse is hit more than five times. Pat Eddery needed a total of four strokes in completing a 78-1 treble on Superoo, Ham N'Eggs and River Boyne, but John Williams had a less rewarding afternoon.

After Williams and Great Hall had been narrowly beaten by Join The Clan in Leicester's Burton Handicap, Peter Cundell, trainer of the runner- up, reported: 'John says he would have won if he had given him one more whack, but he had already used up his quota.'

Superoo, blinkered for the first time at the age of seven, got Epsom trainer John Sutcliffe off the mark for the season in the opening Scraptoft Handicap. Henry Cecil, by contrast, posted his 50th domestic win of the campaign with odds-on Gone Troppo.

Eddery continued his winning run at Windsor's evening meeting, with an emphatic success on the 2-1 favourite Bentico, who made most of the running to come home clear in the Henry Cooper Handicap.

Highbrook was yesterday made favourite by Coral for the Magnet Cup at York on Saturday. Mark Tompkins's good dual-purpose performer is a 7-1 chance, followed by Baron Ferdinand, Last Embrace and Top Shiel on 8-1, 10-1 Googly, Let's Get Lost, Alderbrook and Rose Alto, 12-1 others.