THE trainer at the centre of a row that has rocked racing has said his wife is in tears after she was subjected to abusive phone calls.
Chris Honour insists he ‘does not stop horses’ after Hillsin’s ride at Worcester last night sparked a social media meltdown.
Honour has said categorically he ‘does not stop horses’ after the ride on one of his runners sparked uproar among punters
The horse has been suspended from running for 40 days and jockey Dylan Kitts’ ride has been referred to the British Horseracing Authority’s head office.
Hillsin drifted from 15-8 to 11-1 before the off in the 2m4f handicap hurdle and was ‘tenderly ridden’ in the closing stages.
Honour, who is based at Higher Whiddon Farm near Plymouth, told Nick Luck he felt Kitts had ‘messed up’ the ride.
Hillsin finished third despite appearing to be in a hugely promising position on the outer approaching the post.
Honour, a former National Hunt jockey, said he has fielded phone calls to his house and some of the anger over the ride has been directed at his wife.
He said: “I am beside myself about the whole thing.
“I have had phone calls to my wife, she has been in tears.
“I’m upset about it, this is not something I want to be involved in.
“In my mind I did my job. I don’t want to be dropping the jockey in trouble but he’s messed up.
“In my mind if he looks back he will be disappointed. It’s a disappointing scenario to be dealing with.
“Reading Twitter, Facebook, it’s horrible for us, my family and not something I want to be associated with.”
Kitts told the stewards the horse made a noise and hung right on the way in.
Honour claimed he had never encountered any such difficulties when doing work with the five-year-old gelding at home.
The trainer said he was ’embarrassed’ by what happened but was adamant: “I would never tell somebody not to win.”
He added: “People are saying we stopped him but that’s not me, I’ve not stopped him.
“It’s against the ethos of how we train and run our horses.
“Hopefully we’ll get to the bottom of it.
“I’m embarrassed. I’m embarrassed for my team. We all work hard.
“This is pretty much the worst day of my racing career, it upsets me.
“I’ve sent the horse to the race in the peak of health to do his best.
“He has achieved to a level the best he has ever shown, but I cannot dispute it looks awful.”