HOW IS THIS FAIR AND JUST.

Life can be unfair, if not perverse. Even the highly successful and the mega wealthy can be visited by the cruel hand of fate. Ask Pierre-Charles Boudot, once the poster boy of French racing, 3-times French champion jockey and the winner of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomph in 2019. 5-years ago he was charged with two rapes and at the request or demand of the French Interior Ministry, France Galop suspended his licence to ride. Now, after 5-years in the wilderness, 5-years in which, I guess, he pleaded his innocence, he has been exornerated and the charges against him have been dropped. Next week he is expected to have his riding licence returned to him.

I expect France Galop will be relieved to return Boudot's licence; it was not their decision to consider Boudot guilty even before he had the opportunity to prove himself innocent. France Galop had no alternative once the government department had instructed them to ban Boudot. Of course, I know nothing of the how, why and wherefores of this case. I know practically nothing about Boudot or the women who chose to hound him with allegations of rape. I imagine as the police have chosen not to pursue the case that they have either no evidence to prove Boudot guilty of the alleged offences or simply not enough to have any hope in court to gain a conviction. Perhaps the women involved have withdrawn their allegations. Perhaps they, too, are tired of how long the case was taking to mature into something more substantial than their word against his.

Rape is a detestible crime and ordinarily my reaction is for the guilty party to be given an equally detestible punishment. Yet, and this case sort of proves the point, here we have an innocent man (hopefully) persecuted for 5-years for a crime in which the legal process has proved him innocent. For 5-years he has been denied the opportunity to pursue a career that he may never be able to salvage. And having not been proved innocent in a court of law, Boudot will have to live out his life with the dark shadow of possible rapist hanging over him. Some will feel sorry for his plight and support him, others will only see the dark shadow and turn their backs on him. I do not know Pierre-Charles Boudot and have no idea of how his future will likely pan out for him.

What I do know is that racing's hierarchy can inflict punishments on people who work in the sport without any need for hard fact or evidence. Rumour can sometimes be enough to have someone exiled from the sport. Captain Ryan Price is a famous case from history. Josh Gifford, as honest a man who ever rode, and stable jockey to Price for the whole of his career, said in the aftermath into the inquiry into the circumstances of Rosyth second win in the 1964 Schweppes Hurdle. 'I think they never listened to us. I think they had made up their minds what they were going to do before we got there.'

Even when Price had his licence returned to him, the members of the National Hunt Committee still had their knives pointed in his direction. Again the Schweppes was the cause of  controversy. In the week leading up to the race someone in authority warned Price that if his horse Hill House won the race he would 'be warned-off for life.' The horse did not have the form to win a Scweppes and had run sluggishly in his previous race. Chaseform noted that the horse would doubtless improve for the run. Journalists asked question even though the Sandown stewards did not see fit to inquiry into he run. Journalists whispered, rumours spread that Price was planning a coup!

Gifford was convinced Hill House had improved a great deal from his run at Sandown and was confident he would win at Newbury on the following Saturday. Hill House won and indignation met with suspicion. The bombshell really exploded many days later: the horse had failed a dope test, steroid cortosol was found. Anyone who wishes to know the full facts of this notorious case should seek out a copy of Peter Bromley's book 'The Price of Success.' Of course after a long battle to clear his name, with Hill House subjected to long examination by vets at the Equine Research Station, it was discovered that Hill House, and all horses, could produce cortosol naturally and the rules regarding drugs were amended accordingly.

In 1964 and again in 1967 and now again in 2021, a high-profile figure in the sport was savagely treated by officials, denied their right to earn a living, their reputations torn to shreds by the media and by general speculation. Captain Price was brusque with officialdom, yet so kind to his horses that he would not let many of them leave his Findon stable and cared-for them in retirement. I hope Pierre-Charles Boudot is equally deserving of my sympathy for what he has endured.