Luke Littler could be onto another winner after his latest record-breaking darts victory - and this time it’s on the racecourse.

The 19-year-old set a record average for both the final and tournament as he successfully defended his World Matchplay title.

Littler defeated Gerwyn Price 18-9 in Sunday’s final at the Winter Gardens, Blackpool, as the world champion eyes a clean sweep of major tournaments this year.

And trainer Hugo Palmer says the horse Littler owns with fellow darts player Stephen Bunting and ex-footballer Michael Owen has been impressive in training.

Bunting Mental, named after the chant ‘Let’s go Bunting mental’ when Stephen plays, is a two-year-old son of sprinter Ardad, who won at Group Two level.

He is in training at Manor House Stables in Cheshire, owned by ex-Liverpool, Real Madrid and Manchester United striker Owen.

“He’s quite a big horse, he’s been going through growth phases all year,” Classic-winning trainer Palmer told me.

“Whether he’ll run at two or not I don’t know. There’s a lot to like about him. He’s by a stallion I like. The little bits of work he’s done have been pleasing and impressive but he’s not ready to do a whole lot more.

“I think he’ll be a nice horse, he’ll be a Saturday horse, whether he’ll be a proper, proper horse, time will tell.”

Littler joins Brighton footballers as racehorse owners

Palmer’s string also includes another sporting crossover in Seagulls Eleven. owned by current and former Brighton footballers including James Milner, Danny Welbeck and Lewis Dunk, and the trainer is pleased to have the high-profile owners on board.

“It’s great to have them involved. I watch the darts at Christmas time when I don’t have so much on my plate,” adds Palmer who is preparing for the Glorious Goodwood meeting, which starts on Tuesday.

“They haven’t been down to meet him yet, but the guys are really enthusiastic.”

Littler is a huge rugby league fan, supporting local side Warrington, and has shown an interest in racing this year.

He attended the Cheltenham Festival in March alongside fellow players Luke Humphries and Nathan Aspinall.

Goodwood hopes for Palmer

Seagulls Eleven is a 50-1 outsider for Wednesday’s big race, the Sussex Stakes, but Palmer is hopeful he can make his mark against the like of 2,000 Guineas winner Bow Echo and Irish Guineas victor Gstaad, who reoppose after finishing 1-2 at Royal Ascot.

“It’s the race of the meeting and it’s going to be great to be involved in it,” said the trainer.

“He’s going to be a big price but he’ll love the course and distance and he’s probably a better horse then last year’s winner. But this is a different year and race and you can’t measure yourself against the 150-1 winner.”

Seagulls Eleven won the Group Three Bonhams Thoroughbred Stakes over a mile under Oisin Murphy at the Goodwood meeting last year.

“He’s in very, very deep waters. It was a huge pleasure when Seagulls Eleven won at Goodwood last year and we hoped if things went the right way, he could justify coming back the following year. He needs to improve five lengths/10lb I suppose to be really competitive,” said Palmer.

“So 124 is very competitive in this race and he’s rated 114. We are only talking five lengths over a mile, and five lengths at Goodwood can often be negated by the way races are run, tactics, how horses handle the track and that sort of thing.

“We are tilting at windmills, of course we are. I think he is genuinely in the form of his life. He’s never looked as good or as strong.

“It’s beyond our wildest dreams that we can see him as the winner of the race but with £20,000 for sixth. I think he can go there in a fairly small field and I think he can be competitive and have a crack at winning a chunk of the money.”

Question: So is Seagulls Eleven worth an each-way bet?

Answer: Well, I’d say I hope we are only going to get paid for two places each-way as I hope it’s going to be a small field!

There’s two Guineas winners in there and it will be interesting to see how they match up with the older generation but I hope very much he will run a good race and be involved in some way.

Other Goodwood runners to watch for Hugo Palmer

Wednesday, 1535, Molecomb Stakes - Sale Shark 14/1 was fifth in the Windsor Castle Stakes at Royal Ascot and fifth again at Newbury. Returns to five furlongs, the distance over which he ran out a good winner in his first race at Hamilton.

Thursday, 1425, Richmond Stakes - Adaay Of Scarlett 6/1. Not been out of the first three in five runs, finishing runner-up in last three races after two opening wins.

Ince was a schoolboy West Ham fan recruited to join the club’s famed ‘academy of football’ as a teenager during the 1980s who graduated to become a first-team star before a controversial move to Manchester United.

That transfer was preceded by an unfortunate photo of him in the shirt of his new club before he had even left - prompting some Hammers supporters to label him ‘Judas’ and boos whenever he returned to his east London roots.

But despite going on to star for the Red Devils, skipper England and prove a success abroad with Inter Milan, Ince has told me the Hammers remain his first love and he is desperate for them to stay in the Premier League.

“I’ll be crossing my fingers, my legs, everything,” the 58-year-old former midfielder told me before relegation-threatened West Ham host title favourites Arsenal on Sunday (16:30 BST).

“I’d be sad if West Ham went down. It would kill me if they went down, hopefully they won’t.”

Controversy and success - The Guv’nor

Ince, later nicknamed The Guv’nor, left West Ham for Manchester in 1989 after his mentor John Lyall had been sacked, and he eventually passed a fitness test to join Sir Alex Ferguson’s side.

Not before a photo, arranged by agent Ambrose Mendy with the Daily Star, of him in a Man Utd shirt - and designed to be held until the transfer was completed - was published early after being discovered by The Express and the rest is history. A history of Ince as a pantomime villain for West Ham’s followers.

Discovered aged 12 by Lyall - arguably West Ham’s greatest manager - Ince had shone as the side regressed from title chasers in 1986 to relegation three years later.

In the ultimately fateful 1988-89 season, he shot to higher prominence when scoring twice in a shock 4-1 League Cup win over Liverpool.

He helped the Hammers - along with the likes of Alvin Martin, Julian Dicks, Liam Brady, Alan Devonshire and Leroy Rosenior - reach the League Cup semi-finals, where Luton Town emerged victorious, and the FA Cup quarters (beaten by Norwich).

Ferguson needed a midfield general and a six-year spell at Old Trafford yielded seven trophies, including two Premier League titles.

The pair had a love-hate relationship, with the Scot irritated by Ince’s nickname - ‘there’s only one guv’nor round here’ - and once labelling the England international ‘a big-time Charlie’ which he later said he regretted.

Racing, Arsenal and the Hammers

Ince and Fergie did have one thing in common - an interest in horse racing - and it’s at Chester’s May meeting, a fixture long associated with visits from top footballers, where we chat after the former player and manager presented the Boodles Chester Vase to connections of winner Benvenuto Cellini.

What was it like going to the races back then?

“I’m not sure I can tell you,” laughs Ince, before adding: “It was group bonding. When we used to go out, the whole team used to go out.

“Sir Alex loved his horse racing so if you were with him, you were alright. A lot of footballers love their horses.”

He enjoys a good chat with winning jockey Ryan Moore, an Arsenal fan, and owners Coolmore’s representative Kevin Buckley, more of a Spurs man.

“I’d love to see Arsenal win the title,” he says in an interview for Sky Sports Racing with presenter Hayley Moore, Ryan’s sister.

“I just think they deserve it. Mikel Arteta has been there for a long, long time now. The fans have stuck with him, the owners have stuck with him, and you don’t want Liverpool and Manchester City winning every year.”

Liverpool was another of Ince’s clubs in a playing career that saw him turn out more than 600 times and earn 53 caps for England.

Managerial spells followed at Macclesfield Town, Milton Keynes Dons (twice), Blackburn Rovers (where he was the first black British manager in the top flight), Notts County, Blackpool and lastly Reading (2023).

But his love remains for his first club West Ham, where he looks out for Freddie Potts, son of former Hammer Steve, who was best man at Ince’s wedding.

“I said two weeks ago when they played Palace, and Palace rested half the team, they should have taken advantage of that,” he tells me.

“Brentford last weekend - they played well in the first half. It’s funny in football when you’re down there - you think Tottenham have got to play Villa away, they should lose that, and then they win it.

“Now all of a sudden, West Ham have Arsenal at the weekend and if they don’t win that and Tottenham win, I think it will be game over.”

I’d started by telling Paul Ince that ‘I was West Ham’ and was surprised he replied: ‘So am I’. I’ll admit to have booed him back in the day, but that was youthful ignorance on my part. I came away smiling and with a new-found respect I had not expected!

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Warning: This article contains explicit sexual references and other details which some readers may find distressing. It is a developing story, so there may be later additions.

A FORMER stable travelling head lad who led up an Ascot Gold Cup winner has been disqualified from horse racing for 32 months for serious sexual misconduct and abusing his position.

David Hickin, 37, admitted breaching racing’s Code of Conduct with his behaviour last year towards two 18-year-old colleagues and a third woman, aged 22.

One of his victims said she felt “very seriously harmed” by what he did, an independent judicial panel was told at a remote hearing which raised questions about the culture within racing stables.

He made lewd comments, touched his colleagues inappropriately and forced one woman - known only as Person A - up against a horsebox.

Hickin was guilty of sexual assault, inappropriate behaviour of a sexual nature, sexualised comments and abusing a position of power, said barrister Silas Lee, representing the British Horseracing Authority (BHA).

The yard at which the incidents took place last year has not been named to protect the identities of the three victims.

Earlier in his career Hickin led in Subjectivist, ridden by Joe Fanning for trainer Mark Johnston, after his Gold Cup win at Royal Ascot in 2021. There is no suggestion whatsoever of any wrongdoing at the Johnston stables, and the offences took place at a different yard.

‘It happens in every racing yard’ - Hickin

After 20 years in the sport, Hickin no longer works in racing and after Wednesday’s hearing, is now officially disqualified for a period of two years and eight months. Representing himself, he admitted the charges and said he was “a bit gutted” by what had happened.

“It happens in every racing yard. Everyone laughs and flirts with all the girls. If everyone complained, it would be all over the media,” said Hickin.

“Even at the yard I was at, a few of the other lads were doing the same. I just went along with it as well and thought it was okay, and obviously it’s not. It shouldn’t have happened, I know that, especially at my age. I have apologised to the three girls.”

The independent judicial panel was chaired by former circuit judge James O’Mahony who asked: “Are you saying there is something of a culture of this going on in racing?”

Hickin, who is nearly 20 years older than two of the complainants, replied: “I think it happens in quite a lot of racing yards. You hear it all the time.”

The panel considered a disqualification of four years, but reduced the time to take into account Hickin’s early admissions which saved the victims giving further evidence. He had no previous disciplinary issues the BHA were aware of.

Panel chair O’Mahony said: ‘Why is there this Code of Conduct? Well, this case makes it amply and distressingly clear why there is such a code and why it must be complied with.

“Mr Hickin has made reference to his perception that there may have been a culture of such conduct in racing. If he’s right about that, then it must stop and come to an end now.’

The charges

This section contains explicit sexual references.

The identity of the three female victims is being protected and they were only referred to as Person A, Person B and Person C at the hearing.

Wednesday’s hearing was told by Silas Lee that the charges covered a period from 17 May to 3 July, 2025 and related to the following allegations:
1. He sexually assaulted and/or behaved inappropriately towards Person A, who was 18 at the time by

a) making repeated comments while travelling to, whilst at, and returning from, a racecourse including - but not limited to - making reference to ‘making her wet’ and telling her she would give him a ‘hard-on’ and/or
b) running a pen between her legs, touching her leg without consent in the racecourse canteen, attempting to hug Person A and picking her up, wrapping his legs around her and forcefully pushing her against a horsebox; and/or
c) observing her getting changed, unclipping her bra and making a comment about the colour of her underwear’ and/or

d) adding Person A on Instagram and making a comment to the effect of ‘w******’ over her photographs’ and/or
e) sending a text message to the effect of ‘Thanks beautiful x sleep well x I know I will’ with a wink emoji.

2. He abused his position of responsibility by virtue of the following conduct:
   a) placing undue pressure on Person A not to disclose the events of 18 May as above by virtue of asking her a question to the effect of ‘Are you going to tell anyone? Some of the things you’ve done you could be a c*** about and tell someone.’

3. He made sexualised comments and/or behaved inappropriately towards Person B by virtue of the following:

   a) commented that he could ‘look at that all day’ in reference to Person B’s bottom

   b) squeezed Person B’s bottom

   c) ran his finger up Person B’s leg towards her bottom; and/or

   d) held Person B’s thigh.

4. He made a sexualised comment to Person C to the effect of ‘Oh I’d give you one if you weren’t with xxx’ (name withheld).

Victim ‘profoundly affected’ by incidents

Person A felt ‘shocked’, ‘a bit sick’ and that the behaviour was ‘very inappropriate,’ the panel was told.

Lee said that on one occasion, he asked her to move to a middle seat in the car so he could ‘tickle her neck’. She said no, and he asked again.

“There were half a dozen times that Person A spoke up, said that she didn’t like the way Mr Hickin was treating her and nevertheless the conduct continued on throughout the day,” added the barrister.

The following day he greeted her with ‘Morning beautiful’ which instantly sent her ‘into a panic’. Later in the day, she broke down in tears in the yard and declined to take part in a staff game of rounders as Hickin was there.

Panel chair O’Mahony said: ‘One thing occurred to us as we were listening to Mr Lee’s detailed, very impressive account of this case is that they were all going to play rounders in the yard.

‘That’s an indication of the kind of spirit we perceive that applies in horse racing - bonhomie, getting on together, an esprit de corps. Where it all goes desperately wrong is people take advantage of that, as we perceive Mr Hickin did, in relation to these three complainants.”

‘Public will be horrified by case’

Referring to the racecourse return trip, Mahony told the hearing: “She was on her own - apart from Mr Hickin - she had nowhere to go, to get away. They were out, the two of them, for the day."

He said the age gap, the difference in status and responsibility, and that she suffered serious harm were all factors in weighing up a penalty for Hickin.

“Members of the public no doubt would be horrified to hear of the misconduct in this case and young women with an interest in the sport could be put off working in an area that they're very passionate for unless a clear message is sent that this is completely unacceptable and will be stamped out,” he said.

Six months on from the incidents, the teenager still felt ‘sick’ and extremely uncomfortable’.

“I would submit this is clearly a young woman who has been profoundly affected by this series of incidents,” said lawyer Lee.

“She has been very seriously harmed by this sexual misconduct.”

It was Person A who suffered the most, describing being pushed up against the horsebox as “really scary”.

Expressing remorse, Hickin said: “When it happened and I got called into the office and got told about it, I said to the guy in the office, ‘Can you tell the girls I was sorry because I didn’t mean anything to come of this like that.”

While admitting the charges, Hickin said he disagreed with some evidence that his behaviour carried on despite being told to stop.

“When she said no when I picked her up, I did let her go straight away. I don’t agree that she kept saying no. I’d always let them go. I don’t like to make anyone feel uncomfortable. At the time she was sort of laughing and going along with it,” he said.

Have there been other sexual abuse cases in horse racing?

The BHA says it is unable to comment on whether the police have been informed.

“At least one of the incidents is the equivalent of a sexual assault in a criminal context so you could consider it to be akin to criminal conduct,” said Lee during his submissions to the panel.

The BHA issued a full statement after the hearing (see lower down ) in which it says: “Not only do actions such as this have an obvious impact on the people directly involved, but it also harms the reputation of a sport that people up and down the country work tirelessly to protect and improve.”

British racing chiefs apologised in December 2023 to anyone who "experienced unacceptable conduct" after revealing they had investigated more than 350 safeguarding and human welfare concerns since 2018.

Nearly half the reports were concerned with either sexual misconduct or bullying.

The BHA vowed to tackle the issue and launched an updated strategy in what it described as a “watershed moment” for the sport.

“Racing is not immune to problems like bullying and sexual misconduct, and I know that for women in particular it has often been easier to keep your head down and suffer in silence,” said the then BHA chief executive Julie Harrington at the time.

“I am truly sorry to hear the stories of bullying, sexual misconduct and, in some cases, serious sexual abuse. This has no place in British racing or wider society.

“The onus is on everyone in our sport to put it right. I’m convinced that we have already started to see a cultural shift, where people feel more confident to speak up.

“This is difficult and takes immense courage, and we must create the environment where unacceptable conduct is called out and those who experience harm are empowered to come forward.”

Among the 350-plus reports to the BHA under the heading of safeguarding in the five-year period covering 2018 to 2023, 22% concerned bullying while 26% were for sexual misconduct. Of the latter, 41% were for sexual assault, rape or attempted rape.

Precise numbers, and how many reports were proven, were not revealed.

Advice, reporting and helplines

Safeguarding - British Horseracing Authority
Via email to safeguarding@britishhorseracing.com; or by telephone to the BHA Safeguarding Team on 0207 152 0099.

Anonymous reporting is also available through RaceWise, the BHA’s anonymous reporting service. You can contact RaceWISE via WhatsApp, SMS, email or by calling 08000 24 24 50.

Racing Welfare
Anyone working in the horse racing industry can access emotional support 24 hours a day, 365 days a year via Racing’s Support Line - 0800 6300 443

If you are in crisis or feel at serious risk of harm, please call 999 immediately.
For urgent, but non-life-threatening support, you can call NHS 111 or reach out to the Samaritans at 116 123.

STATEMENT FROM BHA - in full

“The BHA firmly believes racing should be a welcoming and safe space for all, and we work closely with participants and stakeholders across the industry to ensure the highest possible standards are adhered to.

“British racing’s Code of Conduct, which forms part of the Rules of Racing, establishes an agreed set of standards aimed at protecting the values of the sport and making racing a great place to work based on a culture of respect.

“Everyone involved in the sport is expected to uphold these standards, and Mr Hickin’s actions in this case clearly fall well below the level of behaviour we expect from our participants.

“Such behaviour has no place in our sport, and it is therefore right that the independent Disciplinary Panel have today disqualified Mr Hickin from the sport for 32 months.

“Not only do actions such as this have an obvious impact on the people directly involved, but it also harms the reputation of a sport that people up and down the country work tirelessly to protect and improve.

“It is important for everybody in the sport to see conduct such as this called out as unacceptable and dealt with appropriately.

“We would encourage anybody who witnesses or is subjected to any wrongdoing in British racing to contact our anonymous reporting service, RaceWISE. You can do so via WhatsApp, text, email or phone, with full contact information available at britishhorseracing.com/RaceWISE.

“We thank the Disciplinary Panel for their time considering the case and await their full written reasons in due course.”

The 2024 victor, who was runner-up last year, reclaimed his title after being sent off the 9-2 favourite.

But some hours earlier, a big-time punter had slapped a monster £100k bet at 8-1 with Irish bookmaker Fitzwilliam.

Faced with a potential £800,000 loss, the bookie hedged their bets by placing their own wagers elsewhere but are still thought to have suffered a six-figure deficit on the race.

“We got out of the position the best we could,” said Michael Gannon, who was on the bookmaker rails at Aintree for Fitzwilliam, a new firm backed by prominent Irish racehorse owner Paul Byrne, who paid £325,000 for a betting pitch at Cheltenham last month.

“But the money that followed after laying the bet is what done the damage to us. So we had a pretty poor race - it was a disaster as a result for us, but overall in the meeting, it was a sort of a break even.”

McManus the mystery punter?

When I asked him who had placed the bet, Gannon said: “It came from a well established person.”

Would that person be JP McManus? I asked

“Not many people would be able to have that bet, would they?” came the stoic reply.

The bet was first revealed by Johnny Dineen, working for the firm, and until recently one half of a popular Racing Post podcast - alongside David Jennings - called Upping The Ante.

Dineen gave an interview with ITV Racing’s Brian Gleeson. That clip has gone viral with millions of views online.

Another question - Where’s Johnny Dineen?

Answer: “Johnny’s gone for the plane with his arse handed to him on a plate.”

Gannon said: “This is our maiden voyage in Aintree, That’s the biggest bet we’ve laid ever. But this is a big boy’s game and we’re not going into liquidation.”

Records tumble for Mullins and Maximus

I Am Maximus had won the National in 2024 for trainer Willie Mullins and jockey Paul Townend before finishing runner-up to stablemate Nick Rockett a year later.

He is the first horse to regain the National crown, and the first to win under top weight, since the legendary triple victor Red Rum in the 1970s.

The triumph provided a joint record fourth win for Mullins, who was also successful with Hedgehunter in 2005.

And McManus, who had plenty to celebrate on the day with the runner-up Iroko amd fourth-placed Johnnywho, is the first owner to have enjoyed four Grand National wins - having also triumphed with Don’t Push It (2010) and Minella Times (2021).

GRAND NATIONAL RESULT

1 I Am Maximus 9/2 Fav (Paul Townend/Willie Mullins)

2 Iroko 18/1 (Jonjo O’Neill jr/Ollie Greenall/Josh Guerriero

3 Jordans 28/1 (Ben Jones/Joseph O’Brien)

4 Johnnywho 12/1 (Richie McLernon/Jonjo & AJ O’Neill)

5 High Class Hero 66/1 (James Bowen/Willie Mullins)

6 Favori De Champdou 40/1 (Danny Gilligan/Gordon Elliott)

UPDATE

Following some scepticism online about whether the bet was real…

Fitzwilliam posted this on Saturday evening 👇

Firstly it was a legit bet. Paul approached the pitch before racing & told the lads of the bet struck to a client.

£100,000 @ 8/1 - I AM MAXIMUS !

When the average bet on the pitch is about £80 we’re not going to be able to make a book around this bet. The logic behind taking the bet was that you could make money by managing & offloading some of the money. The exchanges looked really strong early in the day, was £10k per box sort of stuff.

We took some of it and thought “god this is lovely” we can either lock in a nice profit on the transaction or roll behind the punter and have a free roll to win £50-100k. We got circa half of it away at nice prices and then said we’d sit and see does he drift again late.

Unfortunately we were very very wrong. The price got down to 8/1 and we got a bit windy and took some more but when that bet was struck it just went into free fall and we had no choice but to start taking any price we could for any amounts and turned into a very messy book.

The reality is we hadn’t a clue of our position mid race other than we definitely had enough on to cover Armageddon. If he’d of lost, we’d of lost also so overall it was a bad spot but hey, it got people talking I suppose!

Risk v reward

All the schooling in the world cannot replicate the demands of jumping against rivals at pace in a race.

If hurdling is still his game, the Kingwell Hurdle at Wincanton could have been chosen as a prep race. If hurdling is still his game, why suggest Cheltenham might be his last run over obstacles?

When you’re involved in or follow racing, particularly over the jumps, you accept there is a risk. A risk I consider acceptable.

In British jump racing as a whole, the fatality rate is around 0.46% of all runners, compared with 0.1% on the flat.

The rate of fallers in hurdle races has fallen from 1.96% to 1.65% since 2016, according to the British Horseracing Authority, citing the introduction of new padded hurdles and a move from orange to white markers, which aid horses’ visibility.

But Henderson has said the new padded hurdles could be a factor in Constitution Hill’s recent jumping issues, with the horse paying more respect to the traditional birch obstacles.

Constitution Hill’s fall rate in races in the last year is 75%. Even if you apply this over his whole career, it stands at more than 20%.

My opinion that Cheltenham is a step too far is one I suspect both his trainer and owner Michael Buckley, who clearly care deeply about the horse, have shared at some stage.

It’s only four weeks since Constitution Hill’s stablemate and potential hurdling star Sir Gino was pulled up at Cheltenham. His future is uncertain.

What is actually best for Constitution Hill?

We often hear trainers and owners say they will do ‘what is best by the horse’.

Is running in the big one at Cheltenham doing what’s best for a former champion hurdler who’s fallen in three of his last four hurdle races but thrived on his last run on the flat?

Southwell provided a get out of jail free card for concerned connections. I would argue they should take it - there is more to lose than gain by going for a race he has already won. There’s little to prove.

Running Constitution Hill in the Champion Hurdle is playing Russian Roulette. He might emerge unscathed, he might be victorious, but there’s a real risk of injury.

And in this instance, I don’t think it’s an acceptable risk.

I’ll leave the last words to the veteran broadcaster and writer Brough Scott, speaking on Racing TV’s Luck On Sunday show with Nick Luck.

“I really, really hope he doesn’t run at Cheltenham,” said Scott.

“We live in a world that’s terribly risk averse and I had a wonderful old grandfather whose motto was ‘fear and be slain’.

“But I fear for racing if he was to run and fall again. He’s had three falls that could have broken his neck. If he ran again and fell and hurt himself, we would be in real, real trouble.”

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