John Butler fined for breaches of rules regarding stable staff and registering of horses

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John Butler has been fined £1,350 after being found to have breached multiple rules regarding stable staff and registering of horses.

The fine relates to an investigation carried out by the BHA last year and is not connected to horses from Butler’s yard recently being blocked from running, the Racing Post understands.

Last year, the BHA opened an investigation into Butler after a former employee informed the regulator that she had not received pool money – a defined share of a trainer’s prize-money earnings that are passed on to stable staff – during her two years working for the trainer.

As well as failing to provide pool money to staff, Butler was also found to have not registered staff or horses properly.

The BHA found that four members of staff had not been appropriately added to, or removed from, Butler’s stable employee register, including one who had been working at the yard for nearly two years without appearing on the list.

Furthermore, the investigation found three staff members had not received any pool money during their time being employed by Butler.

In addition, ten horses at Butler’s Charnwood Stables in Newmarket were not properly registered, which the trainer blamed on being “extremely busy” and apologised for.

According to a judgement on the disciplinary panel website, Butler had told the BHA via email last year that he had “occasionally omitted to declare when a horse was in training when it was under my care and control” and that he was “dramatically reducing my string" with the aim of having "approximately 25 horses in training and so will be operating under very different circumstances from before”.

Fiona Horlick KC, adjudicating disciplinary panel member for the fast track hearing, said Butler's “overall conduct towards the investigation and improvements to his yard and business operation has been lacklustre” and that there had been “broken assurances” that he would improve the administration of his yard.

Butler, who has 52 horses registered in training, is set to have his first runners this month on Tuesday having been blocked from doing so following a BHA stable inspection last month, which is understood to have discovered inadequate stabling facilities.

A BHA spokesman said last week that the regulator "does not comment on investigations, or speculation surrounding potential investigations".

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