Johnny Murtagh will be free to ride at the Irish Guineas meeting at the Curragh next weekend after having a whip ban picked up at Salisbury on Thursday deferred. It was feared the jockey would miss the rides on Ahsanabad in the Entenmann's Irish 2000 Guineas a week tomorrow, and Barring Order in the fillies' Classic the following afternoon, after being suspended for a total of five days.
He was banned for two days (May 25 and 26) for excessive use of the whip on Fluent in the Smith & Williamson Claiming Stakes and 30 minutes later was suspended for three days (May 27, 28 and 29) for careless riding after winning the concluding handicap on Showpiece. But Murtagh made a successful application to the Jockey Club this morning to have the whip ban deferred until May 30 and 31 because Group One races were scheduled on the original two days.
Filed by Laura Reynolds
