Former jump jockey Paddy Connors has died aged 84

Former jump jockey Paddy Connors died on Wednesday aged 84.

He served his apprenticeship with Paddy Prendergast in Ireland but spent most of his career with Earl Jones, initially based at Guiting Power, then at Hazel Slade Stables in Staffordshire.

After nine years with Jones, he joined trainer Bob Clay at Shareshill, near Wolverhampton. They enjoyed their greatest success when Esban won the 1973 Scottish Grand National with Jimmy Bourke on board.

Connors recorded a total of 22 winners, the first on Hamoun at Stratford in April 1962.

Addition to exclusion list

James Crickmore, who was warned off from racing for 13 years in 2011 as part of a race-fixing scheme, has been added to the BHA’s exclusion list until April following the expiry of the ban.

Crickmore, 44, of Chesterton, Cambridgeshire, was placed on the exclusion list on December 14 with an expiry date given as April 14, 2025. 

According to the BHA’s website, an exclusion order is issued in “instances where a person’s presence on premises licensed by the BHA, or association with racing’s participants, is undesirable in the interests of racing based on their conduct”.

Asked for further detail, a BHA spokesman said: “The BHA does not comment on investigations, or on speculation surrounding potential investigations.”

Crickmore and Maurice Sines, who is now known as Fred Doe, were found to be at the centre of a conspiracy to ensure horses did not run on their merits to allow the owners to lay horses to lose on betting exchanges.

Trainer Gretton fined for cobalt positive

Tom Gretton has been fined £2,000 after his horse Getbazoutofhere tested positive for elevated levels of cobalt after running at Hereford in February.

Gretton determined that the positive test had been caused by a combination of an oral vitamin supplement, nuts supplemented with cobalt and injections of Neo-vit and Hemo-15 supplements that had been administered on veterinary advice.

While satisfied with the origin of the positive test, the BHA said the yard’s use of cobalt “amounted to a significant therapeutic error” and that there had been “precious few steps to monitor the substance which is known to be used in the doping of horses”.

The case was adjudicated under the fast track system, with disciplinary panel member Clement Goldstone KC sanctioning the agreed fine for a medium culpability breach of rule (K) 2.2.

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