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jft2005

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From the RP:

TRAINER Jim Best and his brother Tom were among five men arrested on Friday after what Sussex police are describing as a dispute between neighbours.
Officers were called to Grandstand Stables in Lewes, where the Bests train on the former racecourse next door to Suzy Smith, at around 7.10am.
Following information that there was possibly a firearm on the Best's property, a thorough search of the area was undertaken, but nothing was found.
Four of the men were arrested on suspicion of making threats to kill.
 
Listen, lady - ya boyfriend gonna make those kinda insults, I gotta take action, get some result, ya hear? He's shoutin' insults over the wall at me and my crew, I gotta do sumpting to teach him a lesson, capice? So, me 'n' the boys we pay a visit, we come round in the big black 4x4 widda privacy windows, Big Al gets out an' shows ya boy the insides of his jacket - y'unnerstan'? - an' verbally instructs ya boy in the art of courtesy and respeck - an' your boy starts behavin' real nice an' quiet. Took you long enough to contact the Five-Oh, lady? You think I'm gonna keep a PIECE on my patch? Per-lease! Waddya take me for - a schmuck? Big Al knows the score. The piece and him are lonnnnngg gone... ya boy don't shout no more at my crew, an' there ain't no need for him to come back. Y'unnerstan'?
 
In slightly plainer English: there's been a deal of aggro between the Bestie Boyz and Soozy since last year. It's mostly concerned the use of gallops, the state they've been left in, shouting between SS's THL and the Best work riders, and any number of petty nonsenses. A while back, when Suzy was out and the THL/boyfriend was at the yard, he began haranguing the Bests over their adjoining wall. Some time later, he received an unexpected visitor, when a black 4x4 with tints arrived, decanting the almost inevitable 'big black man' (all of this allegedly, of course), who told Smith's THL to shut the (naughty word) up or... showed a gun inside his jacket. Now all this is several days ago, so it looks like Plod either arrived on foot, taking their time, or the response was a little delayed. As I say, this has to be termed 'alleged', although the background of poor neighbourly relations isn't. On y va!
 
I bet CV is glad she didn't enter into that 'partnership' LOL!
Not a yard I'd have anything to do with I have to say... and I don't mean Suzie's!
 
Definitely better out of such situations, Sara. One of the problems has been Jim's rather superior attitude to owning his yard, rather than leasing it, like Suzy. This was pretty obvious when my friend and I visited last year, as he'd offered shares in a horse to her. He did tell us then that he'd 'had to put her in her place' a few times over the times when she could use the gallops, and so this outburst is the result of some feuding over the past year and more. CV and I didn't like the hint of being on poor terms with a very close neighbour (the two yards and Gerry Enright's are like terraced housing!), to be honest. There may be a case of six of one, etc., but however this incident has occurred (maybe an over-enthusiastic pal of the Bests, thinking he's helping matters), it isn't good for racing.

Redhead: hey, what can I say? Expect Vinnie to visit to collect a purely voluntary contribution towards any further scriptings, okay? Nothing too flashy, but I kinda like that Baccarat crystal stuff, ya know waddimean?
 
Enright's is further down the hill I believe Kri - was up there the other week and there's a belting 12f uphill woodchip gallop on there as well as the old racecourse that shut in 1964.

Gorgeous part of the country that's for sure - John Gosden's dad used to train there too, phenomenal record at Lewes apparently ;)
 
It's not just the Bests' and Smith's lot fighting from what I hear; I've been hearing for the last couple of years that pretty much all of the Lewes yards hate other and there are constant ongoing feuds over the use of gallops, etc. I was told a fair while ago now that allegedly Suzy Smith has a tendency to fence off the best parts of the gallop for her own use, so stopping the other yards from using it.
 
Not sure how true all that is SL but there's a brand new 12f AW woodchip been put in in recent months - possibly a row over the use of that?. The rest of the gallops is literally the old racecourse with a few schooling hurdles and fences sited around and about.

Sheena West trains nearby too - but from my trip up to the racecourse last month I'd say she has a seperate and more private gallop past the racecourse edge towards Brighton.
 
No, I've been hearing stories about the fencing off the good bits for the last year or so at least - the story itself would strongly suggest the gallops in question are grass, suggesting the better or fresher ground being saved.

There are quite a few trainers in and around Lewes, IS.
 
Fair enough - I know there are a number of trainers in the area Best and Smith being the most high profile for various reasons.
 
As I say, from what I've been told there's a bit of in-fighting between all the various trainers in the area as well!
 
Sheena's yard is part of the West family's farm and not near to Best/Smith/Enright's. Those three can be accessed when coming to the outskirts of Lewes on the way to Plumpton, just past the Prison on the left, up a hill and then, on the brow of the hill, you turn left and follow the road to all three. Sheena's place is not as far as that, and you don't actually get into Lewes town. On the way towards the big roundabout which takes you into Lewes, there are some bollards on the left and the farm's noticeboard immediately after them. You turn up there and the farm and yard is up a lane surrounded by farmland.

What possibly sparked the latest round of infighting was that Jim PLOUGHED the main gallops (his logic was that they'd been badly over-used) and re-seeded them! That meant no-one could use them, but he has his own, which he naturally decided to keep for himself. It didn't seem to occur to anyone to perhaps hire in the raceday groundsmen from Plumpton for a day, to tread in the cast divots and do a bit of gallops maintenance for a few quid.

IS - yes, Sheena has her own gallops, so fortunately doesn't have to get involved in any of the dramas!
 
Depriving neighbouring trainers of the means to train their horses is imo something the BHA / Licencing authorities should get involved with. I'm not surprised there is bad feeling nor that Smith tries to ensure a level playing field, if that is the attitude
 
Jimbob was at Lingfield today and had a winner, spent a lot of time explaining to our gateman (who's ex-police!) how he and Tom had been taken to the station and detained from 10.00 am. until midnight, before being released without charge. He seemed more fizzed-up about that than anything else. What he told our man stacks up with what I've said here.
 
Everything I hear about Lewes makes the whole situation six of one and half a dozen of the other. Ms Smith isn't whiter than white either, so I hear.

Not only that, apparently the local paper has started to publish reports of exceptionally rude lads riding through the town swearing and being abusive to members of the public - mainly the domain of the lads coming from both the yards in question I'm led to believe.
 
Headstrong said:
Depriving neighbouring trainers of the means to train their horses is imo something the BHA
Click to expand...

How? Unless they own the land they have no juristiction. I can sympathise with them. If I were the HRA about the very last thing I'd want to start trying to referee would be domestic disputes of this nature.
 
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