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Lionel Messi dragged into horse whipping row

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Rob Parker
 @ October 14th, 2011

Spank you very much

Barcelona star Lionel Messi has been unexpectedly landed at the centre of a dispute about how regularly it is acceptable to whip a racehorse.

Irish jockey Richard Hughes was handed a five-day suspension on Monday after falling foul of new rules which state you can only whip the horse seven or eight times in a race, and a maximum of five times in the final furlong or after the last jump.

The 38-year-old has now given up his racing licence and is threatening to retire because nobody imposes those sort of restrictions on Lionel Messi.

Hughes said: “Until the rules are resolved I won’t be riding – I’d rather retire. I can’t ride horses like this. It’s like telling Lionel Messi he can’t use his left foot.”

True enough. And Barcelona are always finding La Liga whipping boys to spank.

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