Wife and brother of Jim Best enrol on trainers' course

Trainer Jim Best's wife Susanna and his brother Tom will both begin taking training modules next month, it has emerged. They are enrolled on a module 2 course that starts on August 8 at Doncaster’s Northern Racing College.

The Lewes-based trainer, whose disqualification on non-trier charges was quashed on appeal but is due to be reheard later this year, said yesterday: “They are both going for their modules, but I don’t know the details.”

Best would not divulge the reasons for the pair taking courses that would typically lead to a licence application, but said: “Susanna is my assistant and has been with horses all her life. Tom won a Grade 1 at Aintree as a jockey [on Accipiter for Toby Balding] and has effectively shared the training with me from the start in what has been a joint operation.”