CHARGED WITH USING A WHIP WITH WEIGHTED OBJECTS IN PADDED SECTION

STAR West Australian apprentice, Duncan Miller, has been disqualified for 12 months for using a lethally modified whip over a two month period.

The West Australian newspaper reports that Miller was slapped with the ban after being found guilty of improper practice and charged with carrying and using in races and trials from August 1 to October 3 a whip which had weighted objects in its padded section.

He was also charged under ARR 137A(1)(b) with carrying in races and trials for the same period a whip which was not in a satisfactory condition and which had been modified by weighted objects being fitted into the padded section of the whip and handed a six-month disqualification.

The disqualifications will be served concurrently.

Miller, who claimed he had picked up the whip in the Kalgoorlie jockeys' room, pleaded not guilty to both charges.

Principal RWWA investigator Phil O'Reilly took the whip to Melbourne and Sydney and found that it originated from a whip manufacturer in the eastern States, although it had been modified after being taken from the business.

Miller's master, trainer Neville Parnham and his mother, Sharon Miller, told the inquiry a disqualification would end the teenager's career, whereas a suspension would allow him to remain in the industry.