Amateur rider Declan Queally accused professional jockey Nico de Boinville of treating him with disrepect at the start of the first race at Cheltenham on Wednesday.

Queally was riding I'll Sort That, who eventually finished fifth, and de Boinville was aboard Act Of Innocence who finished second.

In a field of 21 runners, riders were competing for the best position at the starting line and two false starts were called before the race got underway.

After the race Queally felt the false starts did not help his mount and he told ITV: "The start was a bit of a mess. Got trapped back further than I wanted. Being abused by an English rider, Nico de Boinville, [was] not very nice. I'm an amateur, coming over here to ride in front of my wife and kids. Horrific."

When ITV's Matt Chapman reported to de Boinville that Queally had expressed his displeasure at what happened at the start, de Boinville said: "Maybe he should look in the mirror."

Queally later lodged a formal complaint with the stewards over the alleged incident. Evidence was heard by the acting stewards before being adjourned to allow racing to conntinue.

Separately, the stewards suspended four jockeys - including Queally - for causing a false start to that race. Queally and Jack Kennedy were suspended for one day for misconduct, and both Danny Gilligan and Darragh O'Keeffe received two-day suspensions as this was their second offence within 12 months.

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