Riding the 2-1 favorite Sweet Nightingale, Pritchard looked well positioned for victory in the Super Nigel Boardman Novices’ Handicap Chase.
Advertisement
He led by seven lengths, but slowed his horse prematurely, apparently having misjudged the distance of the race.
Sweet Nightingale quickly fell from first to the bottom of the four-horse field, and although Pritchard realized his mistake, the 25-year-old jockey could only recover to finish third.
Pritchard is a conditional jockey championship contender and has won 39 races this season.
In imposing a penalty for the erratic race, stewards from the British Horseracing Authority said: “Callum Pritchard, Sweet Nightingale’s jockey, (who) came third, appeared to get the distance of the race wrong.
“Having established a reasonable lead in the race to the line with one circuit to go, he relaxed prematurely and after that only started the race after passing the winning post with one circuit to go.
Advertisement
“After being interviewed and shown recordings of the incident, the cyclist was suspended for 12 days.”
Tristan Durrell leads the conditional championship, which is decided by the number of wins in National Hunt races between May 3, 2025 and April 25, 2026.
Pritchard, who is in third place, now faces an uphill battle to catch Durrell after his suspension ends.
Milan Milos triumphed in Sunday’s unusually dramatic race, beating Delgany Deadline and Pritchard’s Sweet Nightingale, a Polly Gundry-trained mare.