Jockey Robert Winston has his appeal against 22-day whip ban dismissed by British Horseracing Authority

Winston hit his mount seven times behind the saddle and three times down the neck with the whip in the forehand position, something which was banned even before the new whip rules were introduced in October.

The use of the whip in the forehand down the neck can only be used in exceptional circumstances and the panel did not deem this occasion an ‘exceptional circumstance.’ Because it was Winston’s second offence in a 12-month period, what would normally have been an 11-day suspension was doubled to 22.

He is fourth jockey to appeal against a ban since the new rules came in and, just like Ruby Walsh, Aidan Coleman and Dominic Elsworth before him, the disciplinary panel backed the original decision of the local stewards.

On Friday Paul Bittar, the new chief executive of the BHA, will get his first chance to hear directly from the jockeys on the subject of the whip when he meets a representation from the Professional Jockeys Association.

The meeting was organised some time ago as part of the ongoing dialogue between the two parties on racing’s current hot potato. Apart from chief executive of the PJA Kevin Darley, he will meet jump jockey Andrew Thornton and George Baker from the Flat.

Bittar gives his first interviews on Friday since getting his feet under the desk at 75, High Holborn on Wednesday. He will be interviewed by Radio 5 Live at 7.15am and, 10 minutes later at 7.25, he will speak with the Today programme on Radio 4, no doubt giving his first impressions of the most difficult job in racing.

Whip row resurfaces as three riders are banned by the British Horseracing Authority for a total of 79 days

Officials said that Cooper had hit his mount 23 times – 14 after jumping the last flight of hurdles and 12 of them without giving the horse time to respond. Cooper, 34, had not ridden a winner for 4,316 days prior to this success and went on to complete a double later that day.

“I didn’t think I was hard on him,” he said. “It’s the way I ride. I wasn’t 't intentionally connecting, but the whip was making contact, and they’ve viewed it that way.”

Cooper had exceeded the limit of eight hits with the whip over jumps by a staggering 15, yet he shrugged off the shame of being so heavily punished and went to Fontwell Park, where he rode Mortimers Cross to victory in a handicap chase, over three and a quarter miles.

This time Cooper only waved his whip at the horse in the finish, and when he crossed the line he threw it in the air, apparently in a gesture of protest.

“I’m still a bit annoyed, but that’s racing, and rules are rules. I’m not a person who uses the whip much and I’ve never been banned before. I showed I didn’t need to use it [the whip] there, but I threw my whip away and I imagine I’ll be fined for that too,” he said.

There is no doubt Cooper has a very untidy style in the saddle, but professional Robert Winston, who was banned for a total of 22 days for using the whip with excessive frequency at Southwell, is the complete opposite.

The stewards took a dim view of Winston’s ride on the Mark Tompkins-trained Zenarinda, who finished second in a one-mile handicap. The jockey described the ban as 'a joke,’ adding: “I’m absolutely disgusted. I’ll have to think about an appeal.”

The third whip ban imposed was a five-day suspension imposed on conditional jockey Lee Edwards, who landed the first race at Fontwell aboard the heavily-backed Dirty Deal.