Premier League star's father-in-law threatened jockey to force him not to win a race, hearing told

A jockey failed to try and win a race after he was threatened by the father-in-law of a Premier League footballer, he has said.

Jockey Dylan Kitts finished third on Hillsin in July 2023 at Worcester, but has now said he stopped his horse from running on its merits.

He is now facing a disciplinary hearing alongside trainer Chris Honour and John Higgins, who is an associate owner of Alan Clegg. Clegg has not been charged.

It is accused that they breached the racing rules by committing, or conspiring to commit, a corrupt practice by agreeing to stop the horse from achieving its best possible placing.

Louis Weston KC has said that Kitts admitted the incident when he was first interviewed in October 2023.

Higgins, meanwhile, was placed on the exclusion list by the British Horseracing Authority for failing to cooperate in the investigation - and is the father-in-law of one of football's well-known names.

The father-in-law of Ashley Barnes has been accused of threatening a jockey to ensure his horse did not try and win a race

Jockey Dylan Kitts said he stopped his horse from running to the best of its abilities in 2023

That name is Ashley Barnes, who is back playing for Burnley after making more than 250 appearances for them between 2014 and 2023, was also placed on the list after he and Higgins failed to provide their phone records.

Barnes, 35, has also played for the likes of Brighton, Norwich and Plymouth in his career.

Mr Weston said: 'Mr Kitts accepted the horse was given a stopping ride but went on to say he did so out of concern there was a threat by a gentleman called Mr Higgins, and confirmation that he should give a stopping ride and should not win the race for that was given by Chris Honour.'

He also said, while showing video footage of the race, that Kitts only made 'a token effort from half a furlong or a quarter of a furlong out and never picks up his stick'.

He added: 'There is no issue that Mr Kitts stopped this horse. There is no issue either that the plan would be not to get caught - these people are not idiots,' said Mr Weston.

'But Mr Kitts was caught because he did not stop the horse in an undetectable way, he did so in a way that is blindingly obvious. Because of that there then had to be a cover-up and some explanation found, so lies were told in the stewards' inquiry.

'Did Mr Kitts act alone? Obviously not - he had no reason to act alone and the evidence points to him having done it for other people.'

Further, he said: 'Mr Higgins and his son-in-law Ashley Barnes, bet on it with relatively high levels of success.

Barnes and his father-in-law are said to have bet on the horse regularly with success

'They'd won about £5,000. That appears to have led to Mr Higgins making contact with Mr Kitts and money being sent from Mr Barnes to Mr Kitts. The amount of money was £100.

'It's slightly unusual, we say, for Mr Higgins, not the owner, to be sending money to Mr Kitts via his son-in-law. There was also a message which said, "Hi D, did you get the other?" to which the answer came "Yes, many thanks".

Honour is said to have spoken to both Higgins and Clegg a number of times - 70 and 35 respectively - between May 17 and July 5 2023. Clegg has never been part of the investigation.

Higgins and Honour both deny all charges, and the latter, alongside Kitts, are due to address the hearing on Thursday.