THE RSPCA have called for "stiffer punishments in future" after Irish jockey Davy Russell was handed a four-day ban for punching his horse Kings Dolly in Ireland last month.
The 2014 Cheltenham Gold Cup Winner originally escaped with a caution for the offence, which occurred at the Tramore race course in Co. Waterford on August 18.
But Co. Cork native Russell faced a retrial after the RSPCA deemed his original punishment "unduly lenient", with video footage showing the 38-year-old hitting Kings Dolly on the back of the head at the course.
Irish Turf Club Chairman Joseph Finnegan stressed the need to recognise the "seriousness of this offence" after the retrial – but took into account the "strain and pressure" the reaction to the incident had placed on Russell's family.
Mr Finnegan revised the rider's sentence and downgrade his suspension from five race days to four.
The appeals body found Russell to be in breach of Rule 272 insofar as he "acted in a way that was prejudicial to the integrity, proper conduct or good reputation of horse racing".
Russell had argued he wanted Kings Dolly to concentrate and that it was inappropriate to use his whip on the horse in the given circumstances.
Nevertheless, the jockey's actions were heavily criticised by many on social media and the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals condemned Russell's actions alongside the RSCPA – saying they were "appalled by the incident".
The incident was not initially spotted by race-day stewards until footage of Russell hitting his horse appeared online.
Kings Dolly went on to finish eighth of the 12 runners in the August 18 race and trainer Roger McGrath said she had suffered "no ill effects" from the incident.
Russell's suspension will not begin until September 19, meaning he will be able to ride at the Listowel Festival in Co. Kerry this month.
A spokesmon for the RSCPA said the animal-rights organisations hopes "lessons will be learned" from the affair and that punishments will be more severe in future.
We've all got to be pragmatic about this, Davy Russell has gone through the system for the past two weeks, which has let racing down. If four days was the punishment on the day, there would have been no furore," David Muir said.
"However, because of what happened originally he's gone through two weeks of hearings and what have you, where the end result is four days. I've no complaints over the punishment, but there needs to be a clear line of what is acceptable.
"Punching horses in the head is obviously not and the penalty needs to be clear. If jockeys do that then they need to be severely punished, which is down to the Turf Club and the British Horseracing Authority."
He added: "Hounding a jockey is not right, which is what has happened here, so the Turf Club, and BHA, need to learn from this."
