Owner gets in on the act as Woodukheleyfit is awarded race

If any lessons have been learned from the Jim Best inquiry it is that all interests should be declared up front and in a transparent way in matters disciplinary at the BHA – the most basic safeguard against any subsequent claim of a perception of bias issue.

But at a BHA appeal in High Holborn, London, on Thursday another key piece of information went undisclosed to a hearing at which Sylvester Kirk successfully overturned the disqualification of Woodukheleyfit. This case involved understandable bias, though nothing improper.

Kirk's legal representative introduced herself as Susannah Farr, a qualified criminal barrister who appeared so unfamiliar with disciplinary protocol at the BHA that she stood up when first addressed by panel chair Lucinda Cavendish.