FORGET the drama Frost/Nixon, it was Frost/Dunne that continued racing’s unsavoury headlines last weekend.

A leaked BHA report seen by David Walsh of The Sunday Times revealed details of an investigation after Frost had made a complaint over her treatment, specifically by the fellow professional Robbie Dunne, over a period of a few years.

Among the conclusions reached by the BHA investigators was that “there is a cultural issue in which threatening behaviour is condoned and not reported in the weighing room.”

Unfortunately but predictably, sides appear to have been taken, and certainly not helped by the length of time taken to investigate and the ‘leak’. It appears that not all the background is in the public domain since much of the behaviour took place away from scrutiny and requires co- operation from those present. But it does reflect badly on the authorities, while they quote proceedings to be “complex and involve significant legal representation.”

David Bass, the new jump jockey president of the Professional Jockeys Association, said on Monday in the Racing Post that the matter had been “blown out of proportion”.

Jim McGrath on Sky Sports Racing Debate last Sunday, gave his opinion that: “Quite a lot of the jockeys were jealous of the attention Bryony got. She’s a media darling, she’s great TV and she’s also a very good jockey. She was getting sponsorship deals when other high-profile people weren’t. There was a bit of jealousy, a bit of resentment built up.”

Bad form

Back when the complaint and investigation were first revealed, retired jockey Rhys Flint had put up a tweet saying: “Bad form going to the BHA, in all sports you will have your disagreements, say what you have to say, take it on the chin move forward, the weighing room is built on respect, if all jockeys acted in this manner the respect would be gone and races would be a very dangerous place.”

Comments were made on social media that many jockeys had ‘liked’ it, the assumption being that they were agreeing with the opinion.

But the old ‘what happens in the weighroom stays in the weighroom’ culture cannot be condoned when some feel uncomfortable.

With more female riders riding regularly, some of the accusations (denied by Dunne) are simply indefensible in an environment where male and female sportsmen are in close proximity.

At the same time, can you raise your voice ‘you were out of order there’ to a male in the same way as a female, and have it accepted as just normal weighroom ‘culture’? It’s difficult.

Some of the alleged behaviour would be against the law, even in open spaces never mind the enclosed weighroom, especially when someone is perhaps more vulnerable as one of few females there.

Frost’s racing career has had more highs than lows and many times her free-going style and judgement of pace has seen her simply out-think many of her male rivals.

Her bad relationship with Dunne came to a head after a race at Southwell where Frost’s horse did jump left but it would be difficult to argue it caused Dunne’s mount, Cillian’s Well, to fall, resulting in his death.

Frost’s biggest success to-date was on board Frodon at Cheltenham, a left-handed track. The same horse did jump markedly to his right uncorrected in the King George last year, into Santini, and Frost was banned for two days for cutting off Saint Calvados on the bend. But that’s racing. Look at de Boinville’s manouveure to cut off Monalee, who had the rail position, at the top of the hill in the Gold Cup two years ago (also banned for two days).

Frost has been a great ‘interest’ point to put racing on front pages and has earned her Grade 1 success. You hope that the observation that it can “only be good for the long term health of the weigh-room that this has come out,” are accepted but the longer it goes on without resolution, the more concerning it is.