'Always count your posts at Plumpton': Jockey celebrates win, then gets banned for nightmare mistake
"Always count your posts at Plumpton."
That was the race caller's advice after jockey Callum Pritchard mistakenly pulled his ride up a lap short during a meeting at the English country track of Plumpton.
Pritchard was aboard race favourite Sweet Nightingale in the three-mile jumps race and was in front by seven lengths when he thought he had the victory secured.
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He looked over his shoulder and saw no rival was anywhere near him, and so eased the horse up before cruising past the finishing post.
The only problem was there was still a full lap of the circuit to go.
"I hope he hasn't misjudged his circuits... there is still a lap to go," the caller said.
Callum Pritchard pulls Sweet Nightingale up a lap short at Plumpton. Twitter
The three other horses in the field cruised past Sweet Nightingale as Pritchard suddenly realised his mistake, and attempted to kick his mount back into gear.
But he could only recover to finish third in the four-horse field.
The British Horseracing Authority then hit Pritchard with a 12-day riding ban.
"Callum Pritchard, the rider of Sweet Nightingale, [who] placed third, had appeared to mistake the race distance," a statement read.
"Having established a reasonable lead on the run to the line with a circuit to race, he prematurely eased and thereafter only commenced the race having passed the winning post with a circuit to run.
"After being interviewed and shown recordings of the incident, the rider was suspended for 12 days."
Pritchard, 25, was leading the jockey's championship but has slipped to third and will have to fight to regain his lead once his suspension ends.