Aintree winner Laafi disqualified for breach of whip rules
Grand National Festival winner Laafi has been disqualified after jockey Patrick O’Brien was found to have breached whip regulations. The six-year-old, trained i
www.racingtv.comHere’s the latest I can share based on recent reports.
- Toby McCain-Mitchell received a 10-day ban for not pulling up Top Of The Bill at the Grand National, with the stewards deeming he should have stopped the horse when it started to strain. The incident followed an earlier whip-rule breach in the same event, contributing to further disciplinary action.[3][6][7]
- Separately, Laafi, the Grand National Festival winner, was disqualified after a whip-rule breach by jockey Patrick O’Brien, and McCain-Mitchell’s ride Melon was subsequently recognized as the official winner in that race due to those whip-limit breaches.[1][3]
- Additional coverage notes that McCain-Mitchell has faced multiple whip-related suspensions in a relatively short period, including a 32-day tot-up suspension with nine days suspended, reinforcing a pattern of repeated infractions in 2026.[1][3]
If you’d like, I can pull more sources or summarize the key dates and outcomes in a quick timeline. Would you like that?