Harry Findlay launches public attack on BHA chief executive Nic Coward







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Harry Findlay launches public attack on BHA chief executive Nic Coward

09/09/2010

Greg Wood

Owner has 10-minute row over punishment • Argument takes place in front of packed stands

Harry Findlay's simmering sense of injustice over his recent suspension by the British Horseracing Authority boiled over in public here today, when the high-profile punter and owner was involved in an angry confrontation with Nic Coward, the BHA's chief executive.

In a fierce exchange that lasted nearly 10 minutes, Findlay made a series of accusations about the conduct of the BHA during an investigation into bets placed by Findlay on the Betfair betting exchange. Findlay was found to have twice laid bets on one of his horses, though on both occasions he had also placed much larger bets on the horse to win. In June, he was banned from racing for six months, but the penalty was reduced to a £4,500 fine on appeal the following month.

Findlay has also said that the BHA was aware he was laying bets on runners from yards in which he owned horses, which contravenes the owners' code of practice but is not banned under the rules of racing, and had cleared him to continue. This is a claim that the authority has denied.

Yesterday's argument between Coward and Findlay, which quickly drew a crowd of spectators from the packed grandstand, started near the paddock and concluded only when Coward retreated into the sanctuary of the weighing room about 30 metres away. Findlay then explained why he is still so angry about his treatment by the authorities.

"It's been a set-up and a vendetta, and I've had enough," he said. "I can't enjoy anything. I've got my 19-year-old daughter there, all I wanted was for him to explain why they're trying to ruin our lives."

Findlay again claimed that investigators from the BHA's security department "gave me permission to lay any other horses in the yards that I've got," adding: "Betfair have done nowhere near enough to stand by me. They know that I'm whiter than white, they know that I'm cleaner than clean and all they're worried about is going and selling their shares. That's why I'm a wreck, it's a miracle I'm still alive."

Asked why the BHA would want to conduct a vendetta against him, Findlay said: "I don't know. I've got no money. Maybe it's charisma, who knows what it is but I'm telling you something now, they've picked on the wrong guy, because I've got balls as big as Paul Dixon's head." Dixon is the president of the Racehorse Owners' Association.

Findlay then left the racecourse, but he will return to Doncaster today when Black Moth, which he co-owns with the Sangster family, is due to contest the Flying Childers Stakes, the first race on the card. Subsequent reports suggested that he attended Doncaster's bloodstock auction yesterday evening, where he became involved in a heated argument with Dixon.

Findlay then left the racecourse, but he will return to Doncaster today when Black Moth, which he co-owns with the Sangster family, is due to contest the Flying Childers Stakes, the first race on the card. Subsequent reports suggested that he attended Doncaster's bloodstock auction yesterday evening, where he became involved in a heated argument with Dixon.

"If Harry has a point, Harry can make his point wherever he wishes to," Coward said, "but I deal with matters in the right way and through the right process and dealing with things on the racecourse in that manner is not right and it's not the right process.

"He was dealt with through a disciplinary process in the right way that has now come through a disciplinary panel and an appeal board. I asked Harry to respect that we are coming to Doncaster races on a great day and now is not the time."

The main event on the track yesterday was the Group Two Park Hill Stakes, won in brave fashion by Mark Johnston's tough four-year-old filly Eastern Aria. "She was such a star last year with seven wins and she has taken up the gauntlet this year and gone from strength to strength. She is in the Canadian International," Deirdre Johnston, representing her husband, said.