An owner who swore at a losing trainer and made rude gestures to racegoers has been fined £4,000.
Graham Jones was found to have breached the rules of racing by acting in an improper manner at Stratford racecourse. His "completely unacceptable" behaviour, described by disciplinary panel chairman Brian Barker, came after Jones had won a race at the track.
His horse, Oneofthesenights, was the 8-15 favourite to defeat sole rival Beau Sancy in a novices' hurdle on August 22 2019. Jones' mare came home 11 lengths in front, after encountering some interference with the runner-up. In a subsequent stewards' enquiry, Beau Sancy's jockey Aidan Coleman received a three-day ban for careless riding.
It was post-race that Jones, absent from the British Horseracing Authority hearing on Friday, concerned 12 witnesses with his behaviour.
Representing the BHA, Charlotte Davsion, said as the horses were returning to be unsaddled, Jones made comments towards connections of the runner-up. She said Coleman reported Jones shouted repeatedly "the best horse won", which the rider tried to "brush off."
In his statement, Coleman added that Olly Murphy, the trainer of Beau Sancy, requested in a "non-confrontational manner" that Jones was a "bit more sporting next time." Coleman reported Jones swore several times at Murphy as he followed him towards the weighing room.
Murphy said in his account that he spoke to Jones as he felt you should be "gracious" if you win or lose.
"Mr Jones punched the air in front of Mr Murphy's face and said something like 'the best horse won on the day, justice is done,'" said Davison. "Mr Murphy explains that at that stage Mr Jones appeared to totally lose his temper and began walking towards him, shouting and swearing, calling him a f****** c*** and saying things like who do you think the f*** you are and repeatedly shouting Murphy, Murphy, Murphy."
Murphy said he feared Jones could turn violent and felt Jones' spit on the back of his neck as he "raged" at him. Jamie Snowden, the trainer of Jones' horse, apologised to Murphy for the behaviour. A second post-race enquiry was held by the stewards to consider what happened and the case was forwarded to the BHA.
Davison said Derek Jackson, a friend of Murphy, told how Jones appeared to fall off the end of the presentation podium.
"Mr Jackson states that during the presentation some of the crowd booed Mr Jones," Davison continued. "In his opinion, this may have been because he was abusive to Mr Murphy."
Jackson said Jones stuck up his middle finger at the crowd and made another rude sign, actions observed by several others at the course. Jones made an unsuccessful application to dismiss the case for unfairness.
It heard he also went on a "rant" in the winning connections room. In written evidence, Jones denied approaching Murphy in an aggressive manner.
When interviewed at a later date, Jones admitted shouting at Coleman along the lines of "the best horse won." Jones claimed he was told to stop celebrating and alleged members of the crowd made rude comments and gestures at him first, which he repeated back to them. Davison advised the panel that there was no evidence in TV footage or from witnesses to suggest anyone had indeed done so.
Jones said he regretted some of his actions. Concluding the case, Barker said he was satisfied that Jones was guilty of "improper" rather than violent behaviour. "We do regard the behaviour that we have heard about as completely unacceptable and in particular staff who are doing their best to do their job should not have to tolerate and put up with it," he said.
Jones, still registered as an owner but without any horses in training, will be told to pay a £4,000 fine.
He told the Racing Post : "I've got to speak to my solicitor now and anything I say could be against my interests. There's a serious problem here. I'm going to appeal against the fine."
