Jamie Spencer was hit with a 17-day suspension by a disciplinary panel of the British Horseracing Authority yesterday. The British champion jockey was found guilty of careless riding aboard Fajr at Lingfield last Saturday.

Spencer was referred to the BHA as he had been suspended for 24 days within the last 12 months. The jockey was banned for three days for the Lingfield offence and was suspended for another 14 days under the "totting-up" procedure.

The ban will run from December 21st to January 5th on days when Flat racing is due to take place. Four days of the penalty will be deferred for four months until April 20th next year.

Eddie Ahern was also unsuccessful in an appeal against the severity of a seven-day ban accrued at Wolverhampton on December 6th. The stewards found him guilty of careless riding aboard runner-up Fresh Mint in the Go Pontin's Handicap. A disciplinary panel dismissed his appeal and suspended him from riding for seven days between December 28th and January 3rd.

Meanwhile, jockeys, trainers and racegoers were not feeling the Christmas cheer at Huntingdon yesterday, with the meeting abandoned at noon despite passing an earlier inspection.

After a colder than anticipated night, clerk of the course Fiona Needham was forced to take an official look at 9.30am.

While she and her deputation were not satisfied, they appeared to be more positive an hour later when racing was given the go-ahead.

However, connections of some of the engaged horses were not happy about the state of the track, with many of the bare patches of ground still frozen.

Amid much confusion, another inspection was called for noon and the fixture was swiftly axed.