IT’S much too early to prejudge the result of the Jim Best rehearing which is ongoing as I write this, but there are aspects of the case which are of great concern to the sport of horseracing and its governance. The fact that this case has rumbled on since last December, when Paul John’s eye-catching riding of a pair of Best-trained runners precipitated the initial BHA investigation, has been bad news for the sport’s ruling body. The case against Best was initially portrayed as something of a penalty kick, but it is now heading firmly in ‘disastrous own goal’ territory.

It’s fair to say that Best, who has been the subject of numerous BHA enquiries, has been viewed as a marked man by those who police racing, and when John willingly agreed to testify that he had stopped both Echo Brava and Missile Man on Best’s instruction, it must have seemed like the regulator’s prayers had been answered.