Elsworth to carry on - for now

David Elsworth has no immediate plans to retire from training – but he is still mulling over his long-term future.

Elsworth suggested he may quit the sport after losing an appeal on Friday against a £1,500 (€2,200) fine handed out over the running of Wavertree Boy at Taunton earlier this month.

However, Elsworth – who was punished for not issuing adequate riding instructions to ensure the horse ran on its merits – has had time to reflect on the ruling, and he will not make any rash decisions.

He told the Racing Post: “I have a responsibility to my staff and my owners to carry on and I certainly will for the time being.

“However, I’ve had a few run-ins over the years and it is frustrating, so long-term I’ll have to consider my future and ask myself if I want to keep doing it.

“I do understand the difficulties involved in the policing and integrity of racing and I also accept that the tape of the race looks very damaging, but it’s so annoying as I haven’t done anything wrong.

“I’m not sure what I’ll do now as the rules kill you. I’ll talk to my solicitor, Graeme McPherson, and I could take it through a civil court, but that would be very expensive.”

Jockey Richard Young was suspended for 10 days for his ride on Wavertree Boy, while the horse was banned from racing for 40 days.

The horse’s ban will make very little difference, though, as Elsworth revealed that the five-year-old has suffered a recurrence of an old leg injury and will be out for the rest of the season.

He added: “We had opened two lots of Christmas cards since this horse had last run and there was no profit in me stopping him as we wanted to go to Cheltenham with him. There was no dishonesty or intent to conceal the horse’s ability whatsoever.”