The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) are investigating an incident in which Mark Rimell, who trains at Leafield, near Witney, punched jockey Aidan Coleman at Lingfield.
It happened in the jockeys’ changing rooms at the Surrey course last Thursday after Coleman pulled up the Rimell-trained Ours before the third-last fence in the two-mile handicap chase.
Rimell claimed that he was provoked by Coleman, who he alleged swore at him in an offensive manner.
The trainer felt that the Irish rider hadn’t been very polite to the owners when he returned to unsaddle, and it was when he went to speak to him about that, that Coleman allegedly swore at him.
“When he said what he said the other day I was gobsmacked and what I did was out of pure shock,” explained Rimell.
A BHA spokesman said: “It is an ongoing investigation and we can say no more than that.”
Coleman has refused to comment.
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