SAUDI CUP winner David Egan has been fined around £71,000 and banned after winning the world’s richest race, according to reports.
Egan, 21, landed the £7.3million first-place prize on the John Gosden-trained Mishriff at Riyadh on Saturday night.
But he broke whip rules by striking his mount 11 times – one more than the permitted ten.
Egan’s cut of the first-place cheque was estimated to be around £710,000.
Racing chiefs fined him ten per cent of his fee and issued a two-day riding ban for the rules infraction.
Steward Phil Tuck told HorseRacingPlanet.com: “We took into account that two hits were down the shoulder in the backhand position and considered that he used the whip 11 times behind the saddle.
“He had ten per cent of his prize money deducted.”
Egan won the horse’s connections a whopping £65,000 a second in the star-studded race.
The Irishman – who was watched in the crowd by Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman – collared favourite Charlatan to win the contest, which boasted a total purse of £14.3m.
Egan is the retained rider of Prince Faisal, a member of the Saudi royal family, whose total net worth is thought to be a staggering £1trillion.
And he said after his career-defining win: “It’s unbelievable, I’ve been waiting all my life to ride a winner in a race like this. It’s a privilege to be connected to such a class horse.
“I always felt last year in the Derby if he hadn’t missed the break he would have won so this is redemption for him.
“It was really important to get a good jump today. I didn’t expect that he was going to be able to travel so well behind the leaders.
“It took him a little while to get going but then he ran them home.”
The incredible riches on offer did not stop at Egan and Gosden though.
Even the horse that came tenth, Derevo, took home £144,000.
Gosden, watching on from his Newmarket base, said: “What a brave horse. He had to have a lot of courage.
“David rode a positive race and he basically outstayed the American horses in the end.
“He got stuck in horrible, bottomless ground at Ascot last time, otherwise he has a superb record.
“I would have loved to have been there, but I didn’t fancy being put in a hotel and the bottom of Heathrow runway for ten days when I got back!”
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