Timetable under pressure as Best questioning is delayed

It's day three and the timetable is under pressure. Jonathan Laidlaw QC, representing trainer Jim Best, raises the subject minutes before the lunch break on the middle of five scheduled shifts.

He has guided Best through the now-notorious pair of rides for which the trainer's former conditional jockey Paul John was initially banned, and completed his line of questioning. The afternoon is expected to see Louis Weston, representing the BHA, cross-examining Best, but Laidlaw advances a different agenda.

There are four more witnesses the defence wish to call. Two are present and two more will engage via conference call. Each has pressing engagements of one sort or another, Laidlaw informs the panel, and time is of the essence. Would the panel countenance Laidlaw calling each of those before Weston turned his attention to Best?