BHA acknowledges Ffos Las winner Pilgrims King raced in a tongue strap incorrectly

The horse had worn a tongue strap in each of his previous 12 outings, and 15 of his last 17, but had been below his best in the two races he had run without the equipment during that sequence. A BHA spokesman said on Wednesday that Peter Bowen was fined £140 for declaring cheekpieces in error on his runner Pilgrims King at the race. A tongue strap was substituted, which was permitted in error and the BHA apologizes to those affected.

The relevant rule (Paragraph 7 of the Equipment Code) states that a trainer may substitute headgear that has been declared for another piece of headgear, as long as the request is received prior to weighing out and the appropriate financial penalty is paid. However, a tongue strap is not permitted to be substituted, and as such the rule was incorrectly applied. Racing Post have got the best offers, all in one place.