Brave duchess follows MPs' lead by speaking out about bloodstock malpractice

Sometimes, in order for things to change, it takes good people to speak out. Those people often need to be extremely brave, but necessarily so, for principles are more powerful when voiced. We saw that last week in Westminster. We need to see it more in the world of bloodstock.

No matter where you stand on the Brexit debate, it should be possible to applaud the courage of those 21 Conservative MPs who on Tuesday voted to wrestle control of business away from Boris Johnson's government.

Speaking in the House of Commons on Thursday, Labour MP Jess Phillips blasted those Tories who had privately criticised the government's aggressive tactics but publicly said nothing. The reticence of the individuals Phillips shamed was understandable – they were protecting their own careers – but it was regrettable, particularly from supposedly One Nation members of the Cabinet who have lacked the backbone and dignity of their now former colleague Amber Rudd.

Since the Racing Post revealed the contents of the BHA's review into the buying and selling of horses, there has largely been a similar public silence from the bloodstock community. While that can be interpreted as an admission the review's report painted an accurate picture, it has nevertheless been disappointing so few have found the courage to support the findings and recommendations put forward by retired police officer Justin Felice.

Justin Felice carried out a review of how horses are bought and sold for the BHA

A copy of the report was leaked to the Racing Post. We gave it the extensive coverage it deserved and made clear Felice believes the majority of those in the industry behave admirably and responsibly.

However, we also laid out his many serious concerns, summed up by a paragraph in which he said: "Interviewee feedback revealed a widespread knowledge and acknowledgement of unethical practices being conducted with relative impunity in the bloodstock industry for many years, with a small number of unscrupulous individuals being identified repeatedly by different interviewees as people who pose a real risk to the integrity and reputation of the entire bloodstock industry."

In one of these columns last month I pointed out Felice believes some of the malpractice is not only immoral but also criminal, covering potential breaches of the Bribery Act 2010, the Fraud Act 2006 and the Criminal Law Act 1977.

Yet despite the mountain of surely incontrovertible allegations strewn through the report, all too few have wanted to be seen welcoming it, with most almost certainly held back by the fear-induced code of silence Felice found to be prevalent. As such, even the honourable breeders, consignors, agents, trainers, owners and industry observers have largely chosen to avoid the uncomfortable subject, perhaps because so many of them profit from a discredited system, even if they themselves consciously do no wrong.

If the sales ring is a boat then few have wanted to rock it. Indeed, some have gone in the other direction. Leading consignor John Cullinan argued on Twitter: "The current campaign by the BHA and the Racing Post is very unhelpful at a time when so many uncertainties jeopardise the bloodstock industry." Another successful consignor, Grove Stud's Brendan Holland, used the same platform to declare: "The only sin in our industry is buying slow horses."

There are plainly many more sins than that, which is maybe why some in bloodstock have tried to focus not on the report but its leaking, using that as a convenient distraction. Indeed, respected agent Tom Goff, who attended the first key meeting of industry stakeholders last month – when somewhat surprisingly wearing a Racehorse Owners Association hat – attacked the Racing Post for writing about the report.

Trainer George Baker was commendably supportive of efforts to clean up the sales sectorCredit: Getty Images

The Racing Post is fair game for criticism, but we steadfastly defend our decision to report the findings of the bloodstock review. It was not only in the public interest, but also in the interests of the bloodstock industry that such unscrupulous behaviour is confronted head on.

Behind the scenes, the reaction from a small minority of bloodstock industry figures has been more insidious. A number of agents have cancelled advertising with the Racing Post and one individual in particular has embarked upon a campaign for others to do similarly. Their intention is to hurt the Racing Post commercially for fairly reporting the alarming findings of the report and, effectively, to force us into abiding by the 'code of silence’, enforced via the threat of being ostracised from the industry, that Felice warned about.

Thankfully, a plucky few in the bloodstock community have been prepared to speak out. Cheltenham Gold Cup-winning breeder Bryan Mayoh, Normandie Stud's Philippa Cooper and trainers George Baker and John Berry have been among those calling for change.

Read George Baker's blog on the bloodstock industry

So, too, is owner, breeder and vendor the Duchess of Bedford, whose Bloomsbury Stud operation has been embedded in the sport for so long. After reading the Monday column on August 19 she wrote to me and has kindly allowed her words to be repeated here. Despite having horses to sell at Tattersalls next month – and also having a family connection with the company through son Andrew Bedford – she has chosen to put her head above the parapet.

Her letter reads as follows:

"Good article – much needed as well. It is absolutely vital that now, at last, the shutters have been thrown back, the blinds lifted and the windows opened – the whole house now needs airing completely.

"There are too many improper practices and it all needs a good clean up. This needs doing in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France.

"Luck money – this only happened to me once in 1971. I was asked by the purchaser of my yearling (the first yearling I ever sold) what was I going to give him? I did not understand and replied: 'Well, you have the horse?!' He obviously took me for a total idiot. Once my son was working for Tattersalls – he is now a director – it never happened again, but then a very interesting group of agents have never come to see my horses or bid on them.

"I am saddened by how Tom Goff has reacted re the reporting of the meeting. Most people saw that coverage as a breath of fresh air. I was overjoyed when I read it, thinking at long last something is going to be done about this.

"I have sold horses at Tattersalls since 1971 and, based on what I hear and see, gradually every year one is aware some of the bloodstock agents are getting more and more brazen re how they are doing things.

"The pinhooking of yearlings in partnership with studs is now really awful, particularly as their clients are so frequently the buyer of the subsequent yearling – do the people for whom the horses are being bought have any idea, I wonder?

"It is now of great importance that prospective buyers can go to the sales company office and look up and see who owns the horses for sale – every owner should be registered from the time the animal is foaled.

"Now that the shutters have been opened it is vital this continues and that regulations are put in place. If that is not done voluntarily by the sales companies and the agents then they will have brought exposure on themselves. All of us in the industry should clear this up ourselves.

"Bloodstock agents should be registered and if caught doing wrong they should be disbarred.

"They say it is always the few that ruin it for everyone – and I believe this to be true in the bloodstock world. There are a great number of highly ethical people, but the few who are totally unethical are doing untold damage. They are also making it seem normal, so that I would imagine many of the younger people are beginning to follow, thinking that is the right way to do things.

"It needs to stop now and be cleaned up. New rules are needed. The BHA must persuade the sales companies to make a start by displaying the complete ownership of every horse being offered for sale.

"Otherwise, what you said at the end of your article is true – there will indeed be a long and rocky road ahead."

The Duchess of Bedford's son, Andrew, is a director of TattersallsCredit: Edward Whitaker

There is merit in everything she says.There is amajor problem with agents signing for horses that, unbeknownst to the buyers they represent, the agents either wholly or partly own.

For that and other reasons, it should be a requirement the ownership of all horses being sold be completely and accurately lodged with sales houses, with the information updated if it changes close to an animal's entry into the ring. Agents should be licensed and what is now an unregulated industry must be properly regulated.

There are plenty of people who do not want to talk, write or hear about any of this. They would prefer it all went away. It will not go away.

Until something meaningful is done the damning findings of the Felice report must be regularly repeated. The reason why is neatly summed up by the Duchess of Bedford, who warns: "I think you must continue to pursue this subject before it really wrecks the game for many and rewards a few very greedy people who must care little for what it really is all about."

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