The George Gently case may have closed with a £6,000 fine for Dan Skelton - but there was a problematic ending to it

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Cheltenham Festival week began with a high moment for conspiracy theorists when the verdict in the long-running George Gently case was published by the BHA at midday on the day before the sport's biggest race-meeting. Inevitably, coverage was limited. The audience was looking elsewhere.

Word from inside the BHA was that its hand had been forced by Dan Skelton announcing the outcome the previous weekend and that, otherwise, it would not have allowed publication to clash with the festival. It wasn't spelled out, but presumably the verdict would have been released this week. 

I suppose you could say it was naive of the BHA to agree to a conclusion of this case just before the festival. If it didn't want the outcome leaked at that point, it could have waited until after the great week to state its view of the punishment (a fine of £6,000) to Skelton's lawyers. Or perhaps Skelton's lawyers mentioned the sum and the BHA agreed – it's not clear who made the first move.

I'd rather they hadn't done a deal at all. This was a high-profile case involving a really serious allegation. The appropriate way for it to end was a hearing before racing's independent judicial panel, with proceedings open to the media as they usually are. 

That's how you show the sport insists on openness and independence, even with the cases that have the greatest capacity to harm its reputation. That's how you start the difficult process of regaining the trust of those who have been wronged.

It's important to state a caveat here. Sarah Crowther, who chairs the judicial panel, was not obliged to accept the deal agreed between the BHA and Skelton. I'm told she had access to the case notes and Skelton's signed admission, and if she felt the penalty was insufficient, or if she was otherwise concerned, she could have rejected the deal and either called for a hearing or suggested a stiffer penalty.

Instead, she has ruled that "a fine of £6,000 reflects the circumstances of the case and meets the needs of justice". Personally, I find that hard to swallow, given what Skelton was found to have done.

He failed to tell an owner about the benefit he would receive from that owner's purchase of a particular horse. Then, when the BHA investigated, Crowther says "he denied the existence of any documents regarding the payment he received". 

Later, he produced an invoice that had been amended to fit his line of defence. The original invoice only came to light because the owner in question took Skelton to court, presumably risking a six-figure sum in order to do so.

George Gently: sold for £130,000 to a syndicate in October 2016Credit: Grossick Racing

Crowther identifies some mitigating factors. She says that Skelton's advice to the owners about the value of the horse was honest and accurate. The trainer had been "careless" about his obligations "but did not actively seek to misrepresent the position". 

She does not think he made anything remotely resembling an illicit profit. "If anything, the financial benefit which he obtained was rather less than he was actually fairly owed in training fees and expenses," she rules. "There is no evidence before me that the purchase price was anything other than a fair one."

In words that are significant for all trainers, she continued: "It is not necessarily always straightforward for a trainer to know when his involvement in a purchase amounts to ‘advising’ on a sale ... There is no evidence of deliberate disregard of the Code [of Conduct] ... His breach arose essentially by reason of a misjudgement."

She notes Skelton's "deep regret" and that he has made "an unreserved apology to the BHA". She concludes: "In my judgement, Mr Skelton has learnt a valuable lesson from his experiences in this case," a line which would have been better deleted in the Front Runner's opinion. Skelton has held a trainer's licence for more than a decade. Why should it require a case like this to show him how he should interact with owners and the ruling body?

The section of Crowther's verdict that struck me is this one: "The truth regarding the invoices was only revealed by stages and in each case only when Mr Skelton had little choice but to confess. The aggravating feature is undoubtedly a pattern of behaviour involving deliberate attempts to cover up his previous breach of the Code of Conduct. This case is therefore in some ways one in which the ‘cover up’ discloses more deliberate and serious behaviour than the original breach."

Serious indeed. I'm at a loss to know why the BHA thinks a £6,000 fine is the right response to the behaviour described in that section. Obviously, there are trainers out there for whom such an outcome would be a serious blow but Skelton is one of the most successful people in our game. If he is not already in an enviable financial position, he needs a new business manager. It's hard to believe the loss of £6,000 will be much of a sting to him.

The BHA wants everyone in racing and especially its licensees to be straightforward and honest with it at all times but that message is not underlined by this case. A big-time operator, reflecting on this case, might conclude he or she can readily afford a bit of deception now and again. That's why they call it a fine, I suppose, because you pay it and everything's fine again.

Read these next:

Trainer Dan Skelton found to have deliberately misled BHA as findings released in George Gently case 

Dan Skelton says he will have 'first full night of sleep in 2,049 days' after six-year George Gently case concludes with £6,000 fine 

The Front Runner is our unmissable email newsletter available exclusively to Members' Club Ultimate subscribers. Chris Cook, the reigning Racing Writer of the Year, 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.