Dylan Kitts: I was told to break my neck if needed to make sure Hillsin lost

Dylan Kitts told a British Horseracing Authority disciplinary panel on Tuesday that he was instructed to prevent Hillsin from winning at Worcester in 2023 even if he “broke (his) neck in the process”.

Kitts was speaking at the second day of the hearing into charges brought against him and two other individuals for respective breaches of rule J (25) – committing, or conspiring to commit, a corrupt practice by agreeing to stop the horse from achieving his best possible placing.

Chris Honour, the trainer of Hillsin, is one of the other individuals, alongside John Higgins – an associate of Hillsin’s owner Alan Clegg. Honour and Higgins deny the charges against them, while Clegg is not accused of any wrongdoing.

Kitts admits he deliberately prevented Hillsin from winning the Wacky Weekender Festival Pitchcroft 21st-23rd July Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle on July 5 2023, but alleges he did so at the request of Higgins, who is the father-in-law of Premier League footballer Ashley Barnes and has been placed on the exclusion list alongside Barnes by the BHA for their failure to cooperate in the investigation.

Higgins reportedly established regular contact with Kitts, and called him several times whilst he was en route to Worcester and eventually whilst he was in the weighing room, correspondence that led up to the request to stop the horse.

Under cross-examination from Louis Weston, representing the BHA, Kitts said: “He (Higgins) called me several times on the way there. He said under no circumstances was the horse to win, and if I broke my neck in the process then so be it.

“He was very firm, abrupt and vigorous. He said under no f****** circumstances was that horse to win; if I had to break my neck to make sure then so be it. As a young adult in a man’s world, I found it very intimidating.

“I made one of the biggest mistakes of my life. I made a very poor excuse of him hanging to cover my wrongdoings, which was the wrong thing to do.

“I was young, I was panicking, for my career and for my safety.”

Kitts, who has also been charged with a breach of rule (F) 37 – failure to obtain the best possible placing, claims to have had no contact with Honour prior to the race other than in the immediate preliminaries, when he was told ‘you know your instructions – I’m not sure why they want to do it but it’s up to them’.

Kitts also alleged to the panel that when the ride on Hillsin was brought into question, Higgins told him to ‘just hang Chris and you will be fine’, which Kitts took to mean that Honour should be blamed for the scheme.

Kitts began by describing the events following Hillsin’s run as a “life changing, overwhelming and a massively sad time.”

He continued: “I’m from a small town in west Wales and moved away to explore my passion in racing, and to find myself here now is disappointing. I take full responsibility for stopping Hillsin at Worcester but I would like to stress that I didn’t act alone.

“I know what I did was wrong, I neglected my role as a jockey, but I believe all parties on all sides are guilty. There are no innocent people here.

“I’m not here to try to prove my innocence, more to admit to my wrongdoing and assist in reaching the correction sanctions.”

Roderick Moore represents Honour, who is also charged with “encouraging Dylan Kitts to commit a corrupt or fraudulent practice in relation to racing by encouraging him to give a stopping ride to Hillsin”, not ensuring Kitts had sufficient instruction to achieve the best possible placing and with misleading the stewards after the race.

Honour is due to give evidence on Wednesday after which Kitts, who has sought advice from a solicitor but has no representation from a barrister, will have the opportunity to question the trainer should he wish.