BHA refuses to rule out contesting cases in the Lohn affair

The BHA has not ruled out contesting attempts to overturn verdicts and punishments in seven cases involving solicitor Matthew Lohn, despite previously accepting his presence on the disciplinary panel created an appearance of bias in the cases involving trainers Jim Best and Paul Gilligan.

The regulator conceded an appearance of bias in the Best and Gilligan cases, which are set to be reheard in the coming months, raising the hugely embarrassing prospect that all penalties and punishments now in question – believed to include many of the most important integrity cases to have taken place in the past three years – would be overturned on identical grounds if challenged.

However, the BHA told the Racing Post that it believed there may be unique factors that differentiated the seven cases from the Best and Gilligan hearings and declined to rule out contesting any attempt to argue an appearance of bias.