Richard Hughes, who is a familiar figure on the Indian racing circuit during the winter months, was banned for a month by the Royal Western India Turf Club on Thursday after he was found guilty of "foul riding" in a race at Mumbai on Sunday. Hughes, riding Star Trainer, who finished second, was found to have elbowed another jockey, S Zervan, soon after the start of a seven-furlong race, though he suggested afterwards that he had been acting in self-defence as he feared that he was going to be pushed through the running rail by Zervan's mount, Elizabeth. Star Trainer was disqualified from th

The uncertainty that has clouded the Champion Hurdle betting for many weeks began to clear on Thursday afternoon, when Hurricane Fly, who is unraced since an impressive win at Punchestown in May, impressed his trainer Willie Mullins in a racecourse gallop at Leopardstown. The eight-year-old is now reported to be on course to make his seasonal debut in the Irish Champion Hurdle at the same course later this month. Hurricane Fly has been the firm favourite for this year's Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham from the moment he crossed the line in the 2011 renewal, a length and a quarter ahead of Ped

4pm Hughes gets nine-day racing ban for 'foul riding' in India Will Hayler: Richard Hughes's winter working holiday in India took a dramatic turn for the worse on Thursday when he was banned for nine race days – from January 22 to February 26 – by the stewards of the Royal Western India Turf Club. The ban came as the result of an enquiry into interference which took place in the big race at Mumbai, the Gitanjali Lifestyle Million, on New Year's Day. Hughes was found to have elbowed another rider when his mount was hampered soon after the start of the race. According to local r

Channel 4 horseracing commentator Simon Holt (@plumptonraceday) wasn't hedging his bets when he tweeted this message at 5.18pm on Tuesday: "Oh and by the way, I want your hot body tonight babe. xxxxx." Minutes later, he apparently realised what he had done and tweeted: "The previous message was sent in error! Please ignore unless you are Cameron Diaz or my wife." Worse, reports the Daily Mirror, it turns out that Holt didn't write either of the tweets – his Twitter account is ghostwritten by local newspaper racing columnist Jason Hall, who was sending a message to his wife and accident

For the past eight months, since the 2011–12 National Hunt started in May, Nicky Hendersonhas saddled an average of three winners from every 10 runners, and it took only two races on Wednesday, the opening events at both Huntingdon and Southwell, to secure his 30% strike rate for another afternoon. By the evening, it was better still, as a total of four winners from six runners took Henderson to 93 for the season. Joseph Lister, an even-money favourite, launched Henderson's four-timer at Huntingdon, while Eradicate and Oscar Nominee went in at Southwell, at combined odds of 25-1. Hender

Sir Henry Cecil may be giving Dubai a wide berth this year but there are plenty of British and Irish trainers licking their lips as the international racing Carnival returns to town at Meydan on Thursday. Cecil blamed a wide draw for Twice Over's defeats in the past two Dubai World Cups and gave an interview after last year's race where he effectively said he would not be going back soon. It is perhaps no surprise, therefore, that, just like Aidan O'Brien, Cecil has no horses entered for this year's meeting. However, the list of British trainers who are set to head out for the 10-week Carn

Today's best bets, by Greg Wood The National Hunt trainers' championship will be decided at Cheltenham and Aintree in the spring, when today's jumps action at Huntingdon and Southwell will have long since faded into the memory. The time to back Paul Nicholls, though, could well be at the end of January, as his string will be relatively quiet for the next few weeks after receiving their bi-annual flu jabs, while Nicky Henderson shows no sign of slowing down and will keep chipping away at Nicholls's £400,000 lead . Nicholls has just one runner on Wednesday, at Huntingdon, while Henders

Long Run, whose has been beaten by Kauto Star on his two starts since winning the Gold Cup last March, will run without the earplugs that he has worn for all his races in Britain when he makes his next start, which is likely to be in the Denman Chase at Newbury next month. Earplugs are used to help a horse to remain calm in the noise and bustle before a big race and have been used with Long Run since his winning British debut as a four-year-old in a Grade One novice chase in December 2009. Now, though, Nicky Henderson, his trainer, feels Long Run may in fact be relaxing too much before a ra

St Helens rugby league club face a race to repair their new stadium in time for its opening match after the storms which caused chaos across British sport on Tuesday. Part of the roof at the £20m Langtree Park was torn open by strong winds 17 days before St Helens are due to host Widnes in the stadium's opening fixture. The full extent of the damage will not be known until Wednesday at the earliest, with an assessment not possible until winds have calmed to the level where builders can safely look at the roof. A St Helens spokesman said: "We've got to wait for the con

Chepstow's Friday card threatened by rain Friday's meeting at Chepstow is under threat after two inches of rain fell within 24 hours. With the course waterlogged, an inspection has been called for 8.30am on Thursday. "We are currently waterlogged. We had 48 millimetres of rain fall from Monday through to Tuesday morning," said the clerk of the course, Keith Ottesen. "It has been very windy but seems to have cleared through now. The weather is improving at the moment. "We've had two inches of rain in 24 hours. If we had little rain between now and then we'd be hopeful it would make enough, o