“I’M ABSOLUTELY DELIGHTED.”

The reaction of jockey Jason Maguire following yesterday’s successful appeal to the British Horseracing Authority is exactly as you might expect.

The decision taken by the BHA’s appeals board to reduce his suspension by a single day means that the Co. Meath man will now be free to ride Peddlers Cross in the Cheltenham Champion Hurdle, the biggest race of Maguire’s career to date.

The jockey was given a seven-day ban last week following an incident at Doncaster Racecourse. Maguire was deemed guilty of excessive use of the whip, for which he received a two-day ban, as well as marking his mount Cool Mission, an offence which carried a further five-day suspension.

The two-day part of the suspension handed down to Maguire seemed unusual in light of the fact that Richard Johnson, charged with the same offence following the same race, only received a one-day ban.

Yesterday’s decision subsequently overturned the second day of that particular suspension, meaning that Maguire’s ban will now expire in time for him to ride in the Champion Hurdle on 15 March.

Speaking after yesterday’s hearing, Maguire told reporters that ”I wasn’t confident coming down here and I didn’t know what to expect, but it’s brilliant to get back in the Champion Hurdle.”

It has been hanging over me for the last few days, but I’ve had a lot of support from fellow jockeys and from people at the races.

It’s the right result for the Champion Hurdle.

Maguire’s mount, Peddlers Cross, is currently the 11/2 fourth favourite in the feature event of the festival’s first day. The horse is unbeaten in seven starts, with Maguire on board on each occasion.

As a five-year-old novice hurdler, Peddlers Cross won the NIM Novice Hurdle by a length-and-a-half on the Wednesday of last year’s festival.

More recently, he was victorious in the Grade One Fighting Fifth Hurdle which was held at Newbury in late November, beating fellow Champion Hurdle contenders Starluck and Binocular into second and third place respectively.