Peter Chapple-Hyam faces phone records charge

DERBY-WINNING trainer Peter Chapple-Hyam is to face a British Horseracing Authority disciplinary panel hearing over charges of misleading an investigating officer and refusing to supply full and true telephone records.

Should he be found in breach of the rules, the multiple Classic-winning trainer could be handed a substantial fine or possible suspension/disqualification – the maximum penalty being three years. A date for the hearing has yet to be announced.

The panel will consider if Chapple-Hyam deliberately misled or tried to mislead by an overt act an investigating officer when falsifying his telephone records in response to a Telephone Production Order issued to him last September, and stating in a subsequent letter that he was in France on 12 July and unable to text when he was not in France and/or was able to text during that period.

It will also consider whether Chapple-Hyam refused to supply his full and true telephone billings upon authorised request within a reasonable period of time by submitting incomplete and falsified records.

Misleading or endeavouring to mislead an Investigating Officer carries two possible penalties; a fine of £1,000 to £5,000 or a suspension of one month to three years. The stated entry point is a £2,000 fine or a suspension or period when entries will be refused of three months. The second charge carries a broader range of penalties with late productions of records having an entry point of a £2,000 fine or two-month suspension ranging up to a £5,000 penalty and one-year ban.

Non-production of records has an entry point of an 18-month disqualification, with a range of one to three years while tampering with records can incur between six and 18 months suspension, with a starting mark of nine months. The BHA stated it will not reveal the reason for the request of Chapple-Hyam’s phone records

Meanwhile, Nigel Twiston-Davies is aiming to complete Imperial Commander’s serious preparation for the Betfred Cheltenham Gold Cup with a racecourse gallop this weekend. The 2010 winner is a frequent visitor to tracks away from competitive action and his trainer remains confident that despite reaching the venerable age of 12, he can still give his younger opponents a run for their money. The course specialist has been dogged by injury since his prestigious success and was pulled up lame when attempting to defend his title a year later.

Returning to action for the first time since the 2011 mishap in January’s Argento Chase, Imperial Commander was involved in a thrilling battle with Cape Tribulation and only just came off second best. The returning hero appeared in decent nick when cantering up the trainer’s gallops at Grange Hill Farm in Naunton yesterday.

Twiston-Davies said: “I was hoping to take him to Newbury on Saturday but they won’t let us. They want us to go on Sunday, and if I can’t find anywhere on Saturday or this week then we may go on the Sunday.”

Reflecting on the Argento run, he said: “It was astonishingly good. If you’d offered me that second, I’d have been delighted as he’d had such a bad run up to it. He’d fractured the splint bone, he’d been swimming a lot but only had four weeks cantering and maybe that’s not really enough. He doesn’t seem an awful lot worse than he was three years ago.”