Dylan Kitts was handed a nine-year ban after the independent British Horse Racing Authority (BHA) disciplinary panel concluded he had tried to prevent Hirsin from winning the Worcester race in July 2023.
Owner Alan Clegg’s colleague John Higgins, who has not been accused of any wrongdoing, is believed to be the ringleader of the scheme and is on the BHA’s exclusion list from March 7, 2024, but his failure to co-operate with the process means his ban will be backdated for 12 years.
Kitts is a conditional rider and has since left the racing industry, but was given a nine-year ban retroactive to the start of his interim suspension, which will take effect on July 13, 2023. The commission deemed Kitts to have been “groomed” by Higgins and was therefore not the mastermind of the conspiracy.
Trainer Chris Honor was found to have misled the stewards after the race, but was not found to have been the driving force behind the scheme and was fined £750 after several mitigating factors were taken into account.
A BHA statement on Monday said: “The penalties handed down today to John Higgins and Dylan Kitts, who conspired to prevent Hirsin’s victory, send a clear message that British horse racing will not tolerate this type of behavior.”
Kitz’s ride on Hirsin at Worcester caused a stir after finishing a close third
“Running and riding horses to achieve the best possible placings is the minimum standard expected of all participants in British horse racing. It is vital that those involved in the sport have confidence that the fields they see are clean and fair.”
“The actions of Mr Higgins and Mr Kitts, who ignored that fundamental expectation, undermined the efforts of tens of thousands of people working tirelessly across the country to ensure British horse racing remains a world leader, built on a culture of integrity and fair competition.
Trainer Chris Honor was fined £750 for misleading stewards’ investigation.
“We therefore welcome the independent disciplinary panel’s sanction, which reflects the seriousness of this breach of racing rules.
“This investigation was extensive in nature and is no different from any complex fraud case. A significant amount of evidence was analyzed and numerous interviews were conducted, but this was also the first investigation in which telephone data extraction powers were utilized.”
“Such work requires the close scrutiny of large amounts of data in order to transform it into concrete information and to meet disclosure obligations.Given the seriousness of the allegations in this case, it is right that all reasonable efforts were made to reach this outcome.”
