How much should we worry about a BHA error in a major corruption case?

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"An isolated case of human error" is how the BHA describes the circumstances which led to yet another hearing on Friday in the Sean McBride case. It had all seemed to be wrapped up two months ago when an appeal by McBride against a seven-year ban was dismissed, but since then it has emerged that this decision was based on incorrect information provided by the BHA about its own penalty guidance.

McBride was a co-defendant in the Danny Brock case, for those of you who weren't following it at the time. He was found guilty in January of a corrupt or fraudulent practice in betting on Tricky Dicky, the eventual winner of a two-runner race in which Brock rode the beaten horse, Samovar. McBride said his bets were inspired by nothing more than form study and that he had no idea how Brock would ride his mount, but the disciplinary panel did not believe him.

McBride appealed against the finding of guilt and also the length of the penalty. According to the verdict published in May, it was argued on his behalf that he "was not party to the agreement [that Samovar should lose] but he had merely been given information about the agreement which already existed and his involvement was limited to merely opportunistically taking betting advantage".

His lawyers argued that, in light of a 2015 case, that meant he should receive a much shorter ban - it was only six months for the 2015 defendants. The BHA said the penalty guidance had been changed since that earlier case, so there was no longer any need to distinguish between direct involvement in a conspiracy and opportunistic profiting from knowledge of a conspiracy. 

The appeal board accepted that line of argument and allowed the seven-year ban to stand. Now we learn that in fact the guidance had not been changed since the 2015 case, so the question of the appropriate penalty had to be heard all over again on Friday and we're still waiting to find out what McBride's final punishment will be.

How can that happen? How can the BHA misunderstand its own penalty guidance in a case where doing so might make a fourteen-fold difference in the length of somebody's ban? After reading our report on Friday's hearing, I pressed the ruling body for an explanation.

Danny Brock: warned off for 15 years for deliberately stopping horses, including SamovarCredit: Edward Whitaker

A spokesperson responded: "Upon learning that an error had been made in original oral submissions to the Appeal Board regarding the timing of an amendment to the penalty guidance, the BHA brought the mistake to the attention of both the Board and confirmed it to Mr McBride’s legal team, bringing about the hearing on the note of correction which took place last week.

"During this hearing, Mr Louis Weston apologised on the BHA’s behalf for this error and explained that it came about as a result of a computer search which revealed the incorrect date of a meeting of the Rules Committee in 2015. The error relates to the date upon which a change was made to penalty guidance and not a Rule change.

"The panel must consider the guidance but is not bound by it, considering the facts of each individual case.

"The BHA takes seriously its responsibility to accuracy as the regulator of the sport and is confident that this was an isolated case of human error."

If you're a BHA licensee, are you reassured? Answers via email to the usual address below, please.

It's something else to worry about if you find yourself having to defend your reputation at a disciplinary hearing. You'd like to be able to take it for granted that, when the BHA representative makes some assertion about the rules or the penalty guidelines, they'll have got it right. 

From now on, the only advice can be to check everything and to ask for documentary evidence to be produced if you're unsure. That advice must also, I suppose, extend to the disciplinary panels and appeal boards. 

If reassurance is what you want, you could take it from the fact that, while the BHA made the mistake here, it also discovered the mistake and alerted all concerned. The system works, they would argue. We fumbled the ball, then recovered it.

But I think that might be complacent view. At the very least, there must have been considerable additional expense in organising Friday's hearing. And there's the nagging concern that some similar mistake may have been made in the past and not corrected.

There were other things to worry about in this case, like why the BHA got all the way to closing submissions before abandoning a large part of its original case against McBride. 

"The BHA’s last minute change of case in respect of Mr McBride may have come as something of a surprise to him and his representatives," noted the appeal board, drily. But it concluded that his position was not prejudiced thereby "in any material way", which is doubtless a great comfort to him.

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Monday's picks

"Next time", I wrote in my tracker next to the name of Beechwood Star (2.35) after Richard Fahey's two-year-old colt was third on his debut at Thirsk 12 days ago. Such confidence! And oh how it ebbs away, now that the next day is here and it turns out that other horses are also allowed to compete.

Beechwood Star14:35 Ayr

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Jky: Oisin Orr Tnr: Richard Fahey

But the chestnut's run looks as promising now as it did on the day. He was wiped out by an errant rival at the start, ran green and then made up a huge amount of ground in the final three furlongs to be third of eight, beaten by two experienced rivals.

He has three winning siblings and ought to be favourite to uphold family honour in Ayr's opener. He's 11-4.

At the other end of the card, Val Bassett (5.30) gets soft ground for only the second time since joining David O'Meara from France. It looks like a positive, given that his soft-ground effort at Ripon in April remains the best of his four runs this year - he's dropped half a stone since then and is down into Class 5 company for the first time.

Val Bassett17:30 Ayr

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Jky: Daniel Tudhope Tnr: David O'Meara

There's more than one way to read his form and perhaps he's just regressive but the yard is going well and 9-1 is not bad in the circumstances.

'His trainer appears to have found him a good opportunity' - Richard Birch with four bets on Monday 

Three things to look out for on Monday

1. The first of five days at Killarney kicks off with a mile maiden that looks pretty hot, and so it should be; in the past five years, this race has provided a first career success for both Piz Badile and subsequent Derby hero Anthony Van Dyck. All the O'Briens have likely sorts, notably Donnacha's Bremen, who will have the experience edge after a promising second despite odds of 22-1 at Tipperary a dozen days ago. Aidan fields Navy Seal, a brother to French Oaks runner-up Never Ending Story. Joseph has Alonzo, a brother to Leopardstown Guineas Trial winner Hans Andersen. All three are entered in the Futurity next month and both Alonzo and Navy Seal are also in the National Stakes. 

Bremen17:20 Killarney

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Jky: Gavin Ryan Tnr: Donnacha Aidan O'Brien

2. The Coventry Stakes form looks like working out well and we'll get another insight from the first at Windsor this evening. Watch My Tracer ran a very respectable seventh in the Royal Ascot contest and was third of those who raced up the centre, the others being Bucanero Fuerte (who has since won the Railway Stakes) and Army Ethos. Of those to finish ahead of him, only two have been out, the other being Haatem, runner-up to City Of Troy on Saturday. Representing George Scott, the dark grey holds an entry in the Gimcrack next month. 

Watch My Tracer17:40 Windsor

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Jky: Benoit De La Sayette Tnr: George Scott

3. Worcestershire trainer James Evans is having another good year and a particularly good month, with three winners from seven runners so far in July. He runs Justcallmepete in a sprint handicap at Windsor and this might be the time to catch him. He ran well to be a close third here last month (runner-up won next time), even though he hadn't been seen for three months and his usual blinkers were missing. They're back on this time. 

Justcallmepete19:10 Windsor

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Jky: Dougie Costello Tnr: James Evans

Read these next:

What's on this week: top two-year-olds come to the fore and an Irish Oaks to savour 

'We'll have some big days with him' - The Foxes given major Group 1 targets after US raid 

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The Front Runner is our unmissable email newsletter available exclusively to Members' Club Ultimate subscribers. Chris Cook, a four-time Racing Reporter of the Year award winner, provides his take on the day's biggest stories and tips for the upcoming racing every morning from Monday to Friday. Not a Members' Club Ultimate subscriber? Click here to join today and also receive our Ultimate Daily emails plus our full range of fantastic website and newspaper content.