BHA depiction of weighing room is jaundiced and its report looks flawed

As a former jump jockey who has long since given up on the search for a sanctuary to match the refuge of the weighing room, it has been deeply upsetting to see that inner sanctum turned on itself so publicly.

Most distressing is the manner in which that space is being portrayed as inherently misogynistic and threatening. In the Sunday Times the last two weeks, David Walsh has conveyed how a BHA report into Bryony Frost’s complaints against Robbie Dunne concludes that “there is a cultural issue in which threatening behaviour is condoned and not reported”.

It’s 18 years since I lived in that space, but such a depiction couldn’t be further from what I experienced. Sure, it was a demanding environment in which you were held to account for your actions, but it was safe and respectful and everyone in there kept an eye on each other.