Former horse trainer banned

Five emaciated horses were found at Mahdi's yard

A former Newmarket racehorse trainer has been banned from the sport for 10 years.

Thursday's Jockey Club ruling on Kamil Mahdi follows an earlier court conviction for cruelty to horses in his care.

Mahdi, 53, was banned from keeping horses for life in February after being convicted of causing unnecessary suffering to five racehorses in his care.

Mahdi, who ran Green Ridge Stables in Newmarket, near the Suffolk and Cambridgeshire border, was also ordered to carry out 240 hours of community service and to pay £6,000 towards the costs of the case.

On Thursday, at the Jockey Club hearing, Mahdi read out a statement.

RSPCA seized five horses

After hearing from the former trainer the Jockey Club Disciplinary Committee declared him disqualified for 10 years with immediate effect.

The court had heard that in February 2002, the RSPCA seized five horses at Mahdi's yard at his stables in Newmarket.

They had been alerted by another trainer, worried about the horses' conditions.

The horses were transferred to another yard, but one, Desert Warrior, had to be destroyed.

Problems with unpaid bills

Magistrates were told that the RSPCA had warned him before about standards of care when horses were found with no running water.

It had been turned off because of problems with unpaid bills.

The court heard he was given advice, but had failed to heed it.

Mahdi leased the stables, but has since moved out and the site has been refurbished.

The best horse to have run during Mahdi's time as a trainer was Almushtarak, winner of the Sandown Mile and second to Dubai Millennium in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes.