Assistant trainer fined £900 after liaising with banned person at Somerset yard

Former amateur jockey Robert Hawker has been fined £900 after a disciplinary panel gave him credit for openness and honesty in accepting he had spoken to a disqualified person, Johnny Farrelly, about racing matters. 

Hawker assists at the Somerset stable of his father, Richard, who inherited some horses when Farrelly was banned for seven years under safeguarding regulations in September 2021. 

The breaches came to light when the 30-year-old was showing BHA inspectors around his father's yard in December 2021 and freely offered up the information that he was in regular contact with Farrelly, who he described as an intermediary with some of the horses' owners. When the officials pointed out this was against the rules, Hawker said he had known the former trainer was not allowed to visit the yard but had not realised that all communication was forbidden.

Hawker, who had ridden six winners for Farrelly, said he had initially got in touch to commiserate with him following the ban. However, he accepted some of their subsequent contact had been about specific racing subjects.

'The association went far beyond doing a friend a favour'

Outlining the case for the BHA, Charlotte Davison told the panel: "Although some of the communications were personal, discussions about a horse's fitness, feeding schedule, equipment and race entries were also taking place. The association therefore went far beyond doing a friend a favour or being there for a friend. 

"Effectively, Mr Hawker was allowing an excluded person to continue their involvement in horseracing, making key decisions in relation to horses and communicating with owners. People such as Mr Farrelly are excluded from the sport because they pose a threat to the integrity of racing. And so associating with an excluded person in connection with horseracing undermines the BHA's actions to safeguard the sport. It is a significant violation of the rules."

Johnny Farrelly: was banned for a minimum of seven years in 2021

However, Davison accepted Hawker had not intended to break the rules. Hawker told the panel he had asked Farrelly if they were allowed to communicate, adding: "He assured me there wasn't a problem. I believed it, which was stupid because there was only one person that was going to come out the wrong side of it."

Hawker added there had subsequently been "an incident at Plumpton" that led to him and his father deciding to "get rid" of most of the horses who had come from Farrelly's operation. "The horses that did stay, they had owners I'd known previously from working for him and those horses are still here now," he said.

Hawker and his sister hope to take over their father's licence in the next 18 months. "We've invested quite largely in new stock and have brought a lot of new owners into the game. Obviously, this has knocked the wind out of my sails slightly but we've just got to deal with it and carry on," he added.

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