The 29-year-old was given the ban when the stewards took a dim view of the fact that he threw his whip at a horse in frustration after a fall.

Murphy, who has had a tremendous season so far on horses trained by Pipe and owned by David Johnson, was going well aboard chance ride Semi Precious in the two-and-a-half-mile Coral Casino Handicap Chase.

But the Paul Keane-trained six-year-old had jumped right on several occasions and he fell four out.

A frustrated Murphy got up and flung his whip at the rear of the horse with his left hand, striking it on the hind quarters as it galloped away.

The stewards found him guilty of “improper riding, in that Murphy had attempted to strike his horse when it got to its feet”.

They suspended him for seven days, from December 26 to January 1 inclusive.

Stipendiary steward Richard Westrop said: “We have found him guilty under the improper riding rule, which applies whether or not the jockey is mounted on the horse.”

Murphy, who rode a double for Pipe during the afternoon on Locksmith and Royal Hector, was fuming afterwards and offered a terse “no comment”.

The gifted jockey’s career has not been untroubled, but he has been in superb form since taking over on the Johnson horses from champion Tony McCoy, and he won the Paddy Power Gold Cup and Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup on Celestial Gold in the familiar blue and green colours.

The trainer recently stated: “We think Timmy can walk on water”.

But the ‘dream team’ had a hiccup on Saturday when Our Vic fell at the final fence when still in front in the bonusprint.com Gold Cup at Cheltenham.