RACING/Plumpton report: Tony McCoy was among a group of jockeys who were given lengthy bans as jump racing's new season descended into chaos when the opening race at Plumpton yesterday was declared void.

McCoy, who went on to register a double, and five colleagues were banned for 10 days after the 28th September Restart Claiming Hurdle, having been found to have taken the wrong course.

The riders had passed the incorrect side of a dolled section in the back straight on both circuits.

Gerry Supple, who was first past the post on the front-running Potentate, trained by champion Martin Pipe, was hardest hit, being handed a 14-day suspension.

The only rider who escaped censure was amateur Harry Poulton, whose mount, Mujalia, had refused to race.

The banned group, which also numbered Tom Scudamore, Jason Maguire, Paul Flynn, Barry Fenton and leading amateur David Crosse are all understood to be considering an appeal.

McCoy, banned from May 8th-11th and 13th-18th inclusive, declined to comment.

Supple, whose additional four days on the sidelines cover May 22nd-25th, insisted that the route he took, passing between the rail and the far side hedge, seemed the natural way to go.

He said: "Basically you keep a rail to your left, and I don't see the point of having a rail up there without any purpose. I jumped the hurdle, I knew the rail was there and I kept it to my left.

"The plan of the racecourse doesn't have the rail on it. A plan is a plan, and if you have the plan of a house you don't leave the front doors out, do you?"

The rider admitted he had not walked the course before racing, but maintained he was satisfied that he knew his way round. And he insisted that a marker sign displaying a capital H, denoting the hurdles track, was not in evidence.

"I'd looked at the map of the course to see if there any changes and I went out to have a look at the ground, and I was aware that the rail was there when I looked at the first hurdle," he said.

"I don't think it was laid out properly. If it was then there would have been an H, and it wasn't there." Supple said he had already spoken to Michael Caulfield, general manager of the Jockeys' Association, regarding a possible appeal.

Stewards' secretary Terence Brennan would not comment on how the course was marked. "The stewards are putting a report in to the Jockey Club on the situation," he said.