Jim Best expressed anger as he defended himself against charges of having instructed a jockey to stop two horses. The Lewes trainer said there had been no falling-out with Paul John before the rider did what has been described as “a midnight flit” from his stable just before Christmas and he labelled as “disgusting” John’s subsequent claims that triggered this hearing.
Best’s voice rose to a shout as he described the ride John gave Echo Brava at Plumpton in December and he had to be calmed by his barrister, Jonathan Laidlaw QC. Apologising to the panel, the trainer said: “It does upset me. You watch it and watch it and watch it and ... this is my life!”
Laidlaw told the panel that Best had been suffering from anxiety, developing symptoms including a persistent cough, as a result of the long-running case, in which a four-year ban was given to him and then quashed because of flaws in the original hearing in February. John is the only witness against him and the British Horseracing Authority contends that the jockey’s evidence, taken together with footage of the races, is enough to find Best in breach.
Best said he had been disappointed with the two rides at the centre of the case, describing John’s finishing effort on Echo Brava as “weak” and “terrible”. He referred to the jockey’s evidence that he had been short of breath during the ride and related that to John’s admission that he had had little sleep two nights before the race. “If you can’t breath, how can you get oxygen to push it? You can’t.”
In relation to Missile Man’s run three days later at Towcester, Best said John had failed to follow his instructions to make the running unless the pace was strong. “He should be here,” the trainer said, pointing to a horse that led along the inside rail. But the racecourse vet later reported that Missile Man finished “leg-weary” and was lame within hours, at which point Best said he was grateful the horse had not been given a harder ride.
Nevertheless, he gave the jockey “a bollocking” on the drive home. “I was giving him a talking-to. I said it’s no good living a life like he does: drinking, tired, attitude, not wanting to work. It’s not a way to be.”
Best said John had some talent for riding and he had hoped the jockey would improve. He had more of an issue with John’s work ethic at the stable, saying he could not be relied upon to perform simple, important tasks like providing fresh water for horses. Similar evidence was given by phone by the trainer Victor Dartnall, a former employer of John, who said: “You could never trust that he was telling the truth.” Dartnall’s head lass, Katie Essery, said John’s work had to be checked and he would sometimes leave horses on the walker for three hours instead of one.
By Best’s account, his most difficult moment with John came soon after the rider had joined his yard in August 2015, when the ruling body took time to issue the jockey with a fresh licence. Best believed this was because the jockey had left three other yards within 18 months.
One day, John challenged him about this, shouting in the yard that the regulator’s delay was “because you’ve stopped horses”. John added he had been told as much by Paul Struthers, chief executive of the Professional Jockeys Association.
In a fury, Best phoned Struthers to demand an explanation but the chief executive assured him he had said no such thing. Best recalled Struthers adding: “He’s lucky to even have a yard. I bet you’re livid.” John conceded this week that he had “misconstrued” what Struthers had said to him.
Best’s defence team claims John did a deal with the British Horseracing Authority, obtaining a lenient sentence for his alleged stopping rides in exchange for his evidence. John and the BHA deny this. It now appears that the BHA will not offer any witness at the hearing to rebut this claim and nor has the regulator disclosed any paperwork relating to a meeting on 21 January between BHA officials and John’s solicitor.
