A two-year investigation into the running and riding of Hillsin in a race at Worcester in July 2023 concluded on Friday when Dylan Kitts, Hillsin’s jockey, and John Higgins, an associate of the gelding’s owner, were found to have conspired to “stop” the five-year-old from winning.
Chris Honour, Hillsin’s trainer, was cleared of involvement in the conspiracy but found to have misled the local stewards at a subsequent inquiry, while Higgins’s son-in-law, the Premier League footballer Ashley Barnes, was issued with an exclusion order by the British Horseracing Authority last year after refusing to co-operate with its investigation.
