Top jockey Neil Callan has been given a suspended sentence for posting ‘abusive’ comments about the British Horseracing Authority. Callan, 46, has ridden more than 1,700 winners and rode successfully in Hong Kong for eight years until his stint ended in 2021.
On Monday he appeared before a BHA independent disciplinary panel charged with three breaches of the integrity rules regarding conduct prejudicial to horse racing. Most of the hearing was held in camera when Callan and the panel reached a plea agreement.
Outlining the offences, panel chair Tim Grey told the open session that Mr Callan was charged with three breaches of the rules of racing.
The first breach was on December 15 2023 when Grey said Callan “posted a comment on the platform X in relation to BHA steward Anthony McGlone that was abusive, insulting and did not treat him with respect”.
The second charge “arose on December 9 2023 when Mr Callan posted a comment on the platform X in relation to the BHA that was not a responsible use of social media, did not show adequate respect to the officials of the BHA”.
The third allegation “related to a course of conduct between August 16 2023 and January 14 2024 when Mr Callan hosted and reposted and commented on social media in a manner that was offensive, abusive and inappropriate such as it was prejudicial to the proper conduct and good reputation of horse racing in Great Britain”.
Grey went on: “The sanction that will be imposed on Mr Callan for those breaches is a sanction of eight months suspension of Mr Callan’s licence.
“That suspension will itself be suspended for a period of 24 months and that will be concurrent on each of those three counts.”
After issuing a £1,500 fine, the chair continued: “The suspension itself will have the effect of acting as a deterrent and should Mr Callan’s behaviour recur or be repeated then of course that suspension can be activated.”
This would not apply to any riding offences the jockey may commit.
Callan was one of Britain’s most prolific flat jockeys who was attached to Roger Varian and twice finished runner-up in the jockeys’ championship before he relocated to Hong Kong in 2014.
He rode 283 winners in Hong Kong where he was nicknamed the ‘Iron Man’ until in April 2021 he was suspended until the end of the season in July at a hearing into his conduct at a stewards’ inquiry, a sentence that was reduced until the end of May on appeal.
Callan did not renew his licence and returned to Britain riding his latest Group 1 winner Triple Time at Royal Ascot in 2023. He has ridden three winners from 20 mounts in 2025 while riding in Bahrain during part of the winter.
At Reach and across our entities we and our partners use information collected through cookies and other identifiers from your device to improve experience on our site, analyse how it is used and to show personalised advertising. You can opt out of the sale or sharing of your data, at any time clicking the “Do Not Sell or Share my Data” button at the bottom of the webpage. Please note that your preferences are browser specific. Use of our website and any of our services represents your acceptance of the use of cookies and consent to the practices described in our Privacy Notice and Cookie Notice.