Amateur jockey Richard Tate was suspended for 18 days and The Butterwick Kid disqualified after the pair took the wrong course on the way to being first past the post in the Culture 10 Hunters Chase at Newcastle yesterday.

The Butterwick Kid, the 7-2 second favourite, had made all the running and finished five lengths in front of Red Rampage, but he had taken the hurdle course into the straight after the third fence.

Harry Hogarth's Red Rampage (4-1), who was ridden by Philip Kinsella, was awarded the first prize.

Tate also owns The Butterwick Kid, who is trained for him by his father, Thomas.

Tate snr said: ''It is a shambles. We will take a film home and have a look at it and see whether we shall appeal.''

His son was suspended for 14 days for taking the wrong course and a further four for continuing in the race, and the ban will be served on the days there are amateur rider races.

The jockey said: ''I had walked the course and the last fence was to be dolled off, but during the race an official was waving his arms and I thought there was something else wrong and I was guided onto the hurdle course.''

The meeting had started 13 minutes late after jockeys had expressed some concern that the ground in front of the first hurdle in the straight was false.

However, they decided it was safe to go ahead and the Gosforth Decorating And Building Services Novices Hurdle was run without mishap.

John Quinn's 4-9 shot Don't Call Me Derek won as he pleased in the hands of Russ Garritty.

''It will be hard for him to carry two penalties in a novice race so we might put him in a handicap, maybe at Sedgefield next Tuesday,'' Quinn said.

However, there was a sting in the tail for Garritty as he was fined £240 for improper conduct, having approached Peter Vaux, chairman of the panel of stewards, after the victory.

Before the race Garritty had dismounted Don't Call Me Derek to go and have a look at the ground just before the first hurdle in the straight as there had been fears of false patches.

Stewards' secretary Adrian Sharpe said: ''Russ Garritty (who later shook hands with Vaux) was found to have acted in an intimidating manner when speaking to the chairman.''

There was a wholesale gamble on John Wade's Wilful Lord in the James Fletcher Marquee And Pavilion Hire Handicap Chase, but he fell two out when looking to be well in command.

Wilford Lord had been on offer at 33-1 on the exchanges and was backed from 16-1 to 5-1 on course, and his mishap left the 9-4 favourite Lauderdale, ridden by conditional Peter Buchanan to go on and take the prize.

Lauderdale is trained by Lucinda Russell, who said: ''The owners and the jockey said the horse would stay and I said he wouldn't.''

The Andrew Parker-trained Em's Royalty was another unlucky loser, having taken a heavy fall when a length and a half in front at the final flight in the Sporting Index Maiden Hurdle, although the horse and his rider Brian Harding both escaped injury.

The Irish raider McKelvey (4-1), ridden by Robert Thornton and a half-brother to good staying chaser Chives, was left in the lead and he went on to pass the post with 16 lengths to spare over Leading Man.

McKelvey is trained at Cavan in the south of Ireland by Shane Donohoe, who has a large team of point-to-pointers plus 15 to run under Rules.

He said: ''The horse wants good ground really and his owner Noel Elliott has decided to send him to Peter Bowen for a month and he will then come back to me. We took in this race on the way and it has worked out well.''

Southern-based jockey Jimmy McCarthy now needs winners at only Carlisle and Kelso to complete a full set after gaining his first success at Newcastle on Richard Phillips' General Gossip, the 15-8 favourite, in the St James Security Handicap Chase.

Keith Reveley's Time Marches On (4-1) was retained without a bid after winning the Saltwell Signs Selling Handicap Hurdle in the hands of Richard McGrath.

Richard Guest's Assumetheposition (7-2) came out best in the BBC Radio Newcastle Handicap Hurdle.

But winning rider Larry McGrath was suspended for two days (February 26 and 27) for using his whip with excessive frequency.

* Today's two jumps meetings at Musselburgh and Leicester are under threat from frost.

Musselburgh were to hold a precautionary inspection at 6.45am with Leicester having a look at 7.30am.

* Free Gift has been pushed out to 8-1 for the Christie's Foxhunter Chase at the Cheltenham Festival following a surprise defeat at Folkestone yesterday.

The Sally Alner-trained seven-year-old was sent off the 1-2 favourite for the R. E. Sassoon Memorial Hunters Chase after winning eight successive races, seven in point-to-points and one in a hunter chase last May.

However, Free Gift never really looked like fighting back after being headed two fences from home and he was eventually beaten six lengths by Paddy For Paddy.

Coral had gone 7-2 about Free Gift's Cheltenham chances before the race but they now make him an 8-1 shot with Sleeping Night the new 5-1 market leader.

Paddy For Paddy has been introduced into the Foxhunter market at 14-1.