Nothing to celebrate as sorry saga limps its way to a conclusion

After a drawn-out legal tussle that has been half John Grisham epic and half John Cleese farce, the BHA yesterday sealed victory in their prosecution of trainer Jim Best, found guilty of all charges for the second time at the regulator's High Holborn headquarters, almost a year to the day after he ordered Paul John to stop Echo Brava at Plumpton.

This will have been a considerable relief to the BHA and its senior management, who had staked no small amount of credibility on prosecuting Best again after his first conviction was struck down on two counts earlier this year, most importantly as the original panel chairman, Matthew Lohn, had an undisclosed commercial relationship with the BHA.

You could almost hear the champagne corks popping upstairs as the result was handed down by the three-man panel in the underground chamber that hosts disciplinary hearings here – the solemnity of the verdict process interrupted only by the occasional ringing of John McCririck's phone ("Oh God, not here – how do I turn this off?").