Britain's first female black jump jockey, Aamilah Aswat, has been handed a 20-day suspension and had her horse disqualified after breaching whip rules at Chepstow.
The 20-year-old conditional jockey, based with Grand National-winning trainer Kim Bailey and Mat Nicholls, made her debut in November last year. She has ridden five winners since then.
Background and early career
Aswat learned to ride at St James's Farm in her home city of Gloucester. With Jockey Club sponsorship, she joined the scholarship programme at the Riding A Dream Academy, created to support young people from diverse ethnic communities into horse racing after Khadijah Mellah won the Magnolia Cup in 2019.
She completed the Foundation Course at the British Racing School before joining the Bailey and Nicholls yard.
Aswat made her racecourse debut on Guchen, owned by the Friends of Ebony Horse Club, finishing fifth at Kempton Park. On her fourth ride in February, she won at odds of 9-1 on the same horse. The pair scored again next time out, winning by 19 lengths at Newbury.
Whip review committee ruling
After her latest ride at Chepstow on Saturday, she was referred to the BHA's Whip Review Committee. The panel met on Tuesday to consider her riding of Reallyntruthfully, who finished fourth of 17 in a handicap hurdle as the 6-1 joint favourite.
The committee ruled: "Aamilah Aswat, the rider of REALLYNTRUTHFULLY (IRE), placed fourth, was found to have used her whip five times above the permitted level of seven, from rounding the bend leaving the back straight on the final circuit."
Taking into account that none of the uses were clearly and unequivocally for safety purposes, Reallyntruthfully was disqualified under Rule (L)47.11. Aswat will be suspended for 20 days from Tuesday 27 October 2026 to Sunday 15 November 2026, inclusive, with one of those days spent receiving specialised coaching.
This season, Aswat has ridden two winners from five rides, with her latest success at Southwell on October 1 on Wild Goose.
