The raceday stewards were not aware of the matter, but the Turf Club has the authority to look into the matter and take retrospective action where appropriate.

The incident was fully investigated and the referrals committee convened at Killarney at midday on Saturday.

Denis Egan, the Turf Club's chief executive, said: "The decision was that he (Russell) was guilty of rule 272(i) and he has been issued with a caution.

"They (the referrals committee) accepted the explanation he gave, in that he wanted the horse to concentrate and that it was inappropriate to use the whip in the circumstances.

"He wanted the horse to concentrate and he used his hand. He accepted that was inappropriate."

Stewards' secretary Shay Quinn said: "Davy Russell was charged with a breach of rule 272, governing acting in a manner which is prejudicial to the integrity and proper conduct of horse racing, and having considered his record in this regard, he was cautioned concerning his future responsibilities.

"The most recent 272 breach by a jockey was Shane Foley who received a seven-day suspension for striking a horse with his whip at the start. Rule 272 is so broad and riders can be cautioned or given huge penalties.

"The stewards considered his record and his evidence, and this was deemed at the lower end of the scale."

Russell told At The Races: "It's a relief it's over and done with, and myself and my family can move on.

"It was an unfortunate incident that maybe got misinterpreted by the general public. That's the way the stewards felt today and they were happy with the inquiry.

"Obviously, visually it doesn't look good. There were a number of different things going through my head at the time to bring the filly under control, because at that stage she was out of control.

"I felt that if I was to continue in that vein during the race I would have had a very difficult time trying to control her during the race.

"I felt I needed to do something to let her know there was somebody on her back. Just to slap her to the soft of the neck I felt was the appropriate action.

"A slap on the neck is what she wanted to get her to pay attention. Obviously, we're in a difficult position, because there's a line there you don't need to cross and I felt I hadn't crossed it. I felt that I needed to take some bit of action to get her back and pay attention to what she was doing.

"Otherwise if we don't do that, the whole thing runs riot and we'll have horses everywhere."

He added: "It's been a trying time for other reasons (rather than the gap between the incident and hearing), but not through the fault of anyone. I felt the Turf Club were on to me in enough time after the event to put a rest in my mind that something would happen and they acted as quickly as they could in that aspect."