Milton Harris has licence suspended by BHA and faces disciplinary hearing

Milton Harris, who had two horses withdrawn at Ludlow on Thursday and has had no runners since, has had his licence suspended pending a BHA hearing.

Mystery had originally surrounded the fact that the trainer's Balboa and Giddyupadingdong were both declared non-runners for their races as they were deemed "not qualified".

But a BHA spokesperson said on Saturday: "Following a hearing before the chairperson of the independent judicial panel of the BHA, Mr Harris’s licence has been suspended pending a licensing committee hearing in January. 

"This is as a result of a breach of the conditions on his licence and related matters."

Harris, 64, is in his second spell as a trainer, having spent seven years without a licence after declaring bankruptcy in 2011.

He has an unusual background for a trainer as he grew up in a council flat in Hampshire and his first exposure to racing was watching drinkers placing bets as he served them from behind the bar in a pub.

He went on to work as a bartender on cruise ships and on his return to Britain he set out to earn enough money to buy his own horses.

Harris started training in 2000-01 and built up his string so that he sent out 32 winners over jumps in 2010-11. His notable horses in that period included dual Grade 2-winning juvenile hurdler Mondul and Chaninbar, who won the Red Rum Chase at the Grand National meeting.

The BHA ruled in 2011 that his financial issues meant they would not be renewing his licence. He said later: "Things had gone wrong with personal and financial relationships and I'd got myself in a few scrapes."

But Harris returned to the sport in 2018 and he has hit even greater heights in the years since, sending out 56 winners in the 2021-22 season and 55 in 2022-23.

He made a Grade 1 breakthrough when Knight Salute was awarded the Jewson Anniversary 4-y-o Juvenile Hurdle at Aintree last year, after initially dead-heating with Pied Piper.

Scriptwriter won a Grade 2 juvenile hurdle at Cheltenham last season and ran in the Melbourne Cup under the name of More Felons this week after being sold to race in Australia.

Pyramid Place won the valuable Silver Trophy Handicap Hurdle at Chepstow just last month and Harris had sent out 33 winners this season at the time his licence was suspended.

Harris could not be reached for comment on Saturday.

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