Turner Released After Fall

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Britain's leading female jockey Hayley Turner has been released from hospital after suffering a heavy fall on Seal Of Approval at Doncaster.

The 30-year-old, who recently returned after breaking an ankle in July,was thrown to the ground when her mount clipped the heels of another horse.

Turner received immediate medical attention before being taken to Doncaster Royal Infirmary on Thursday.

She was kept in overnight and released on Friday after scans came back clear.

"She's now at home with her mum and is just battered and bruised," said Guy Jewell, Turner's agent.

"All the tests, CT scans and X-rays came back clear. It's just soft tissue damage."

The race was won by 15-8 favourite The Lark, trained by Turner's former employer Michael Bell.

In March 2009, Turner was sidelined for four months after being knocked unconscious on the Newmarket gallops when her horse broke a leg in a stalls accident.

Turner, who is the only British female jockey to have won a Group One race outright, split from Bell in June after 13 years with the Newmarket trainer and has been riding as a freelance.

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Godolphin Face No Further Charges

Godolphin's Moulton Paddocks stable faces no further doping charges after an inquiry concluded banned trainer Mahmood Al Zarooni operated alone.

The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) found no evidence that anyone other than Al Zarooni was involved in the distribution of anabolic steroids.

However, the BHA said "structural and procedural deficiencies" at the stable in Newmarket must be addressed.

Al Zarooni is serving an eight-year banafter 22 horses tested positive.

Charlie Appleby, Al Zarooni's assistant, has assumed control of Moulton Paddocks with immediate effect and has already begun implementing some procedural changes alongside fellow Godolphin trainer Saeed bin Suroor.

The BHA said it was happy Appleby had no knowledge of Al Zarooni's wrongdoings.

Paul Bittar, chief executive of the BHA, said: "The investigation process has been a complex and challenging one. However, I am satisfied that the conclusions reached are an accurate reflection of events.

"Fortunately cases such as this - both in terms of scale and profile - are incredibly rare, however there are areas where we can learn from the issues raised."

The scandal - described as the biggest in racing history - became public on 22 April when Godolphin issued a statement in which it said 11 horses, including unbeaten 1000 Guineas contender Certify, had tested positive and Al Zarooni admitted a "catastrophic error".

At a subsequent disciplinary hearing, the trainer was banned for eight years after also admitting to doping another four horses.

Seven more racehorses trained by Al Zarooni then failed tests for anabolic steroids on 20 May, including 2012 St Leger winner Encke.

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BHA Issue Major Bans

Jockeys Paul Doe and Greg Fairley have been banned from racing for 12 years for "not riding a horse to its merits" after an investigation into corruption.

Two other jockeys are among 11 people barred from the sport following a British Horseracing Authority probe.

Jockey Kirsty Milczarek has been banned for two years for committing "corrupt or fraudulent" practices and passing on information for reward.

Trainers Maurice "Fred" Sines and James Crickmore have received 14-year bans.

The pair were found guilty of betting against a horse they owned.

Jimmy Quinn, the fourth jockey among 11 people to have been found guilty of corruption, received a six-month punishment for his involvement.

Five others - Nick Gold, Peter Gold, Shaun Harris, David Kendrick and Liam Vasey - were also found guilty of "corrupt or fraudulent practice".

Paul Fitzsimons, now a trainer, and Darren May were cleared of all charges.

All those found guilty have seven days to appeal against their bans but are excluded from the sport during that period.

The verdicts were delivered on Wednesday as the BHA published the findings of its long-running investigation into race-fixing in 2009.

The investigation centred on horses being backed to lose races on betting exchanges between 17 January and 15 August 2009.

Milczarek vowed to appeal against the verdict.

Her charges relate to her ride aboard Obe Gold at Lingfield on 15 August 2009.

Trained at the time by Debbie Mountain, Milczarek finished fifth on the even-money favourite in a six-furlong race.

She told At The Races: "I've just spoken to my solicitor a couple of times. We are going for an appeal. It's my livelihood.

"I was found guilty on one particular thing but not a ride, which I'm pleased about."

Roy Announces BHA Whip Changes

The British Horseracing Authority have announced further amendments to the controversial new whip rules, which were originally introduced on October 10.

The number of uses per race for the whip by a jockey is to remain at seven for the Flat and eight over jumps, but a number of changes to the structure for penalties will come into effect from Friday.

Any rider now going one strike over the allowed limit will receive a two-day ban and not the current five, and while a second offence will still be doubled, it will be from two to days to four, and not from five to 10.

Should a rider exceed the frequency limit, the stewards will hear the evidence of the jockey and review the video footage to identify which use(s), if any, might legitimately be disregarded.

Roy statement

BHA chairman Paul Roy said in a statement: "These developments represent a carefully considered and measured response to both our monitoring procedures and constant dialogue with the PJA (Professional Jockeys Association) and other relevant parties.

"A key purpose of the (whip) Review was to achieve behavioural change. This absolutely remains the case, and the same high standards of good horsemanship and equine welfare remain at the heart of our approach to the whip. We are encouraged that we have seen a great deal of behavioural change in a short time period since the implementation of the recommendations of the Review.

"However, in terms of the specific rules and penalties themselves, it has always been our position that we will constantly monitor how jockeys are adapting. If by making adjustments we can achieve behavioural change more effectively, then as a responsible regulator we should do that.

"There were fundamental reasons for the changes we introduced last month. They were for the good of the sport and its long-term health, including all its participants, and all groups consulted agreed that new rules were needed.

"The sport as a whole now needs to cooperate to make the new rules work, and move forward to achieve what we all want to see - a firm but fair set of rules that promote competitive racing, and safeguard welfare and the reputation of British Racing."

Exemptions will be reinstated for Group One races for whip breaches attracting penalties of four days suspension or less, bringing the whip regulations into line with other offences.

Walsh Five Day BHA Ban Upheld

Ruby Walsh's five-day ban for overuse of the whip has been upheld by the British Horseracing Authority.

Walsh will now miss the ride on The Nightingale in the JNwine.com Champion Chase at Down Royal on Saturday.

He had threatened to restrict his riding in Britain after he was judged to have exceeded the eight-strike limit as Edgardo Sol won at Aintree.

"I viewed it as someone who knows about riding, they viewed it as somebody who doesn't," he said after his hearing.

"Britain is very fortunate to have great horse racing, it has great trainers and good owners, but it need to use an awful lot more common sense."

Walsh added that his appeal's failure had not affected his enthusiasm for racing in Britain.

His advocate described Walsh's ride as one of "a consummate professional".

The Irish jockey struck his mount nine times, one more than the maximum under controversial new whip rules, when winning by a nose in the race on 23 October.

But he claimed that one of those strikes was to correct his horse's balance on the approach to a fence.

"They agree that I had used the whip for corrective measure, but they didn't deem it to be a safety measure. To get a five-day ban for that baffles me," Walsh added.

"I have never had a problem with regulation and whip rules. I don't have a problem with them now.

"I think the old rules were very good, if they wanted to have harsher penalties under the old rules, that is the way that I think they should have went."

A further breach of the rules will see him handed a 10-day ban.

"It's a fair cloud to have hanging over you. I just think the rules are unfair and are way too stringent and way too strict," said the 32-year-old.

The Grand National and Cheltenham Gold Cup winner told Racing UK: "I'm not into numbers. Every case is individual, it's a grey area that people are trying to make black and white. If seven is acceptable in a five-furlong race how can eight be acceptable in a jumps race? It's bizarre.

"I honestly believe the situation will get worse before it gets better. Bans will start to mount up, people will end up doing what I did - instinctively doing something to correct a horse that is not allowed and walk into five-day and 10-day bans."

Walsh came unstuck two days after the BHA agreed to some amendments to the new whip rules on 21 October.

But some riders are still unhappy with the penalties and the following race started five minutes late as jockeys debated whether to boycott the contest.

The ban rules Walsh out of racing from 5-9 November, with the first day of the suspension meaning he misses the Down Royal card, which includes the Grade One chase.

After the Aintree race, Edgardo Sol's trainer Paul Nicholls said on his Twitter account: "Nice day with three winners ruined by Ruby's five-day ban after awesome ride on Edgardo Sol.

"And Ruby just told me he can't ride Kauto Stone and The Nightingale at Down Royal on November 5. Beyond a joke."