HOWARD JOHNSON

A big profile case that once again has put racing in the public eye for all the wrong reasons.With all the bribe allegations and race fixing stories that littered the front and back pages in the non to distant past still fairly fresh in many minds the last thing we wanted was this.We will all have our own views,right or wrong,impartial or not but it comes as no suprise to me,rumours have been fairly widespread up here for a good while as to the training methods of Mr Johnson.The Wylie/Johnson team must be a very difficult pairing to work for,whatever the reasons may be,have you ever known a set up that hire and fires stable jockeys so regularly? Graham Wylie has pumped a kings ransom into the sport and i dont begrudge him any of his successes but i was at the time and still am totally bewildered as to his choice of "private trainer".Johnson was a two bit cattle farmer who tinkered with a few moderate charges around the Northern tracks,with varying degrees of success,personally i was always of the opinion that he couldnt train a donkey to eat strawberries.Overnight he had millions at his disposal to buy some choice flesh,mind blowing sums spent on high class ex Flat racers and more robustly bred "stores" but in the cold light of day for what return? Inglis Drever was the most high profile campaigner and credit where its due,he made a very good job of him,getting him to three World Hurdles fit for the task but lets not be blinded by one or two success stories,the knackers yard is absolutely littered with so called high class horses that he ruined.His methods MUST be to blame,after all he was investigated by the racing powers a few seasons back and if the rumours are to be believed then he came as close as you can get to being closed down,his gallops being described as hardly fit for purpose.Yes its all rumour and counter rumour but no smoke without fire as they say.These new claims,that have finally brought him down are of a different nature and the effects of them can be positively proved,as far as im concerned he is banged to rights.For de nerving or being aware that the horse had been de nerved but still running him mutiple times is as low as you can get,he cant have a defence.He has screamed "Kangaroo Court" and he was made a scapegoat for all the others that have been let off lightly but lets be brutally honest,racing has no place for this sort of practice and racing has no place for individuals who sink so low,with the money and horse flesh he had at his disposal he shouldnt have needed to plumb these depths but HE choose to,if you live by the sword then you will die by the sword.This man has no place in the horse racing world,four years isnt enough.I resent this man and whats he has done or been aware of with a passion and should our paths ever cross then the said Mr Johnson will be left in no uncertain terms as to my views on this sorry and cruel episode.

Interesting reading, about de-nerving, on this old thread, from the Horse and Hound forum.

Solerina

Mr Johnson claims in his latest press release that "i was framed"..whatever!Bottom line is that he never has had the ability and never will have the ability to train thoroughbred racehorses to any degree.Idiots can train good horses,all he did was break them down,only one stable that i can think of in my racing lifetime has had a quicker turn over of horseflesh and that was Martin Pipes,run them for one or two seasons then you never seen hide nor hair of them again.The de nerving issue has brought Johnson into the public eye but those who are around racing on a regular basis had seen the light long ago,i slagged him off on the old 606 and got a yellow card for it! Still cant work out why Wylie has backed him,theres much better and more deserving trainers in the North,where the Wylie horses go now is a good one,Ferdy wont get them for obvious reasons(Graeme Lee as stable jockey...i dont think so!),Nicky Richards must be in the frame,personally id chose a lesser light,someone like Chris Grant,he had a great mentor in the shape of Arthur Stephenson and he does pretty well with the ammo at his disposal.I await further developments with keen interest.

Howard Johnson is deserving of everything he gets.

Crook!

Must admit that Wylies decision to cut his string to twenty and split them between Nicholls and Mullins was a real curve ball.Nicholls will warm to Wylie because hes got money,dont be fooled by the personna he shows on TV,ive had a share in one with him and he isnt all sweetness and light,in fact i sold my share after the second stable visit as he made you feel like a second rater,he looked down his nose at you,as though you didnt have the right because you werent a John Hales or a Andy Stewart.