Henderson punishment 'severe', says NTF

THE National Trainers' Federation on Friday described the punishment handed out to Nicky Henderson as "severe", although not all members of the training ranks appeared to feel he had been hard done by.

Rupert Arnold, NTF chief executive, said: "The penalty imposed on Nicky Henderson by the disciplinary panel is severe. It is therefore important to recognise that the panel accepted that his breach of rule 200 was on a limited basis and his primary intention was the welfare of the horse.

Rupert Arnold: has sympathy

 

"While not condoning any breach of the rules, the NTF has sympathy with Nicky Henderson since every trainer's main concern is the welfare of their horses and it is therefore a cause of great regret that a senior trainer of such impeccable reputation should fall foul of the rules on prohibited substances by acting in the interests of his horse.

"This is becoming a difficult area for trainers to manage and there is a debate to be had about the sense of banning the use of treatments that protect the horse's welfare and are shown not to enhance performance. The NTF has already opened dialogue with the BHA on this subject and looks forward to progressing them."

Former NTF president Tom Tate said: "I've much sympathy for a co-trainer, and one with such a fine record and reputation as Nick, but I suppose we all want to win races and we all want to look after our horses, and the rules are the rules. Unless they change those rules on these prohibited substances, we're all bound by that."

Paul Webber said: "It is a huge fine and it is desperately unlucky. It is hard to gauge if the punishment is harsh as it is the first case of its type. Nicky has some great owners and a great team and I don't think his name will be tarnished at all."

Milton Harris: wants consistency

  PICTURE: Mark Cranham  

There was, however, a different take on things from Milton Harris. He said: "I don't want to see any trainer getting a ban, but the fact of the matter is that if they have found him guilty, which they have, it surely has to be a longer ban than three months.

"The fine means nothing as he is a wealthy man, but if someone else had broken the rules the ban would have been longer. All we want is a bit of consistency for all, regardless of status."

Don't miss Saturday's Racing Post for the full reaction to Nicky Henderson's punishment and the Moonlit Path case - click here to buy the newspaper online from 9am